You don’t climb Everest or run a marathon in one step. I know, it’s this brilliant analysis that keeps you coming back. Still, its true – I didn’t get to my heaviest weight (April 2016) overnight. My co-founder reminded me of this as I worked through the process – it took time to get there, and it would take time to get back as well. There are no magic pills for that journey, just hard work and dedication. There were bumps along the way, of course – there always are.

In truth, every crazy achievement, every impossible triumph the world has seen had a stack of failures, delays, and missteps along its path. In May 1961, in the middle of seemingly losing the space race, President John F. Kennedy promised the moon within the decade. I guarantee there were people at NASA thinking, “Uh…. wut??” The challenge was laid down, though. To get there, a group of ridiculously smart people broke that huge goal into manageable steps, and started hitting small benchmarks along the way.

After all, “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.” By turning the seemingly impossible into small steps, you check off one item at a time.

Stay aware of the big prize down the road, but focus on making your next short term target a reality. For me it was losing weight in ten pound increments to keep the success flowing. Maybe for you it’s sign your next client, complete your next workout… heck, it may be as simple as “get out of bed this morning.”

Just Keep Swimming

The truth is, some days the journey is harder than others. Life can be that way; each single step can seem like a giant leap. The issues that we face on a daily basis can seem massive. Sometimes they really ARE massive. On those days in particular, take the time to break it down. One step at a time, one foot in front of the other. You won’t reach your final goal overnight – don’t let yourself be derailed in one shot either.

Those days are a critical time to remember that you are not alone, even if it feels that way. You don’t have to fight every battle, or save the world by yourself. Trust your tribe, your shiver, to be with you. Lean on them when you need support. The 1DOS shiver can help if you don’t have a good one already in place.

With that support behind us, Amy and I will just keep swimming. We do have a vision for 1DOS Foundation; it won’t be easy and it won’t happen overnight. That’s fine – the hard is what makes it worth doing. One step at a time, one foot in front of the other. We will get there!