One Step at a Time

How does one cut down a large Oak tree?
How does one begin a journey (on foot) of 1,000 miles?
How does one crawl out of a cravasse with a broken leg and get back to camp through a glacer field?
How does one get healthier?
How does one recover from chemical dependency?
How do you eat an elephant?
How does one row across the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans?

One Step at a time.  One bite at a time. One day at a time.

No really,  if you think of the whole of a problem it usually daunting.  Roz Savage has rowed a boat across the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans.  She did it one stroke at a time.  If you go to AA one of the techniques is to shorten your time span, take each day at a time.  If that is too big, too daunting, take an hour at a time, if that is too daunting take a minute at a time.  Take smaller manageable bites.  if you want some great insight into this read "Touching the Void"

Joe Simpson and his climbing partner, Simon Yates, had just reached the top of a 21,000-foot peak in the Andes when disaster struck. Simpson plunged off the vertical face of an ice ledge, breaking his leg. In the hours that followed, darkness fell and a blizzard raged as Yates tried to lower his friend to safety. Finally, Yates was forced to cut the rope, moments before he would have been pulled to his own death.

The next three days were an impossibly grueling ordeal for both men. Yates, certain that Simpson was dead, returned to base camp consumed with grief and guilt over abandoning him. Miraculously, Simpson had survived the fall, but crippled, starving, and severely frostbitten was trapped in a deep crevasse. Summoning vast reserves of physical and spiritual strength, Simpson crawled over the cliffs and canyons of the Andes, reaching base camp hours before Yates had planned to leave.

How both men overcame the torments of those harrowing days is an epic tale of fear, suffering, and survival, and a poignant testament to unshakable courage and friendship.

Joe, traveled the distance by just focusing on going another 5 feet.  Setting a goal of getting 100 yards by noon, going 5 feet in 30 minutes.  Just keep moving forward. He literally crawled inch by inch back to the base camp.  If he had not returned in time his climbing buddy would have left.  His climbing buddy thought he was dead.  So he was not waiting for him.  They were in an area of South America were few people ever went.


I just finished the Ragnar Northwest Passage Relay Race.  It is a race from Blaine Washington to Whidby Island.  The distance is just over 200  miles.  The scenery is beautiful.  Each runner on the standard team of 12 runs 3 legs for a total of about 17 - 18 miles.  How do you run that far? One step at a time.  When you are out running it can seem daunting.  You have to not think about the distance.  Just concentrate on setting a smaller goal and getting there and then setting another one.  There were even teams as small as 2 people!


Can you run 10 feet?  Can you run 10 feet and then walk 10 feet?  Try doing it again and again. You will be surprised how far you can go.  Can you run for 30 seconds?  Can you run for 30 seconds and walk for 1 minute?  Can you do that 10 times?  If so then you have just run for 5 minutes.  Not bad. Just keep doing that.  Try running for 30 seconds and walking for 30 seconds.  I think you get the idea.