Squirrels first. Golfers second.

I live on a golf course and more than occasionally golfers either walking, searching for a ball, or in golf carts driving near the wrought iron fence toward their lay get too close for my black lab and he'll bark incessantly with a menacing tone until they move on (I try to keep him quiet during the backswing).  He doesn't understand that the entire golf course - even just the fifth green - is not his to protect.

No, his focus should be on his own backyard. A modest yard, two mature live oaks, a flower garden, shrubbery, patio, arbor. Not acres of well manicured greens running the length of the neighborhood.

But I, myself, too often try to 'boil the ocean' when all I can really control is my own pot. In truth, that's all we ever can do. But if we do a good enough job at that, collectively, the ocean - world peace, world hunger, the environment, the industry, the company - will come along in time.

Seeking to solve the bigger issues is noble. These issues may be they charitable, or simply problems at work beyond your authority (not ability) to change. Ultimately they are past our own ' fence'. In reality, our real responsibilities lie within our sphere of influence, in our own backyard. While we need to keep our eyes on the ultimate, broader objectives (in my Lab's case, ridding the world of golfers) it is because results matter that for our objectives, our sanity, our accomplishments, we focus first on what we can impact most directly in our own sphere of influence, that is, within our own backyards.