I was very much into cycling in my teens and twenties.
I wasn’t the fastest or the fittest, but I was always pretty good at climbing hills.
It was the same for running.
I wasn’t much of a sprinter but I could go long distances.
For a long time I didn’t make much of this capacity but recently I was recommended a book called The Slight Edge which has a very simple premise, which helped me make sense of how I went about those sports.
In the book, Olsen explains that the secret to success is the compound effect of small cumulative steps we take every day.
When I was climbing hills on my bike, I’d look not at the summit, but at the road in front of me, one crank of the pedal at a time.
Knowing I just had to cover the next metre, and then the next until finally I made it to the top.
When saving money or investing, it is the regular act of saving over the years which compounds.
When working towards a fitness goal, it is the small everyday commitments rather than the one big gym or exercise blowout once a week or month, that makes the difference.
The old adage tells us that the only way to eat the elephant is one mouthful at a time.
It seems so simple and obvious, but when we focus on large end goals they can seem overwhelming.
The mountain seems too high to climb.
Or it’s too hard to even get to base camp, so why bother starting?
Reframing any journey as one simple step after another helps us move into a different realm of performance.
One that doesn’t require will power or massive self-discipline.
It’s about orienting with ease and joy towards the next step, and then the next.
Knowing that the end goal may not be visible.
So…
Where are you investing for your long term future?
What would the smallest cumulative next step look like?
What pulls you in for the sheer joy and ease of it?
Photo by Artur Aldyrkhanov on Unsplash