The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.
They say you shouldn’t forget to see the forest for the trees, but the trees, ultimately, make up the forest. It’s important to pay attention to the small things, the small steps, because our goal can only be reached through hundreds of tiny steps.
Imagine you want to climb a mountain. It’s right there, the bigger picture: the peak you want to conquer. It’s your goal, the habit to change, the destination to reach. You need to keep it in mind as the source of motivation, as the true north that will guide you on the way.
However, remembering the peak is not enough. It’s very tall. It’s very far away. The road is unclear. You need smaller goals, smaller steps.
Think about the road map to the goal you want to reach. Which is the first step you need to take? Often, that first step is all you need to get started.
But what do you do once you complete the first step? You look for the next one and then the next one. Together, they form the big picture.
Each step can be simple. The simpler it is, the easier it is to take. Then, you move on to the next one, knowing that you are making progress already.
Each small step, each dot you need to connect can feel insignificant on its own. However, before you know it, you are halfway through to the peak. You might not see the progress, but it’s there, and you are moving.
The alternative to small steps is not, usually, large steps. Instead, it’s no steps at all. We are rarely able to take giant leaps towards the peak of that mountain. We can’t just run a 5k in one day and run 10k the next. But through small steps, connecting the dot to the next dot, we can get further than we ever imagined.
Small steps help us move towards the goal steadily. Perhaps, it will not be quick, but it will be real.
Anyone can take small steps. Even if you are tired and busy 12 hours a day, you might find time and energy to do a little thing, but probably not take a giant leap.
You might not be all that satisfied with taking small steps. They are not quite so fashionable. But small steps will take you all the way to the top of the mountain. All the way to the big picture you want.
