I’ve long been attracted to endurance events, not just because I love the competitive component of racing, but also because of the exercise of willpower, patience and mental fortitude required. There comes a moment in every race/event where your mind tells you can’t keep going, that you need to stop, or at least slow down. It’s not true. As cliché as it sounds, your body is stronger than your mind. You CAN keep going but it hurts, and so your mind tells you to stop. The way to overcome this little voice in your head is to think only about the next step, the next pedal stroke, or the next swim stroke. You focus on the smallest increment possible and you do just one more. Then another. Then another. You forget about how far you’ve come and how far you still have to go. One step at a time. You do that for long enough and when you look up, you’ve made big progress. But you did it just one step at a time. It’s not easy to do, but when you pull it off, it’s one of the most rewarding feelings I’ve ever experienced.

The lesson applies to so much more than racing though. You might be having a bad day. You might be exhausted from a sleepless night (speaking for a friend). You might be saving for a big purchase that seems forever away. It doesn’t matter what the objective is – you just have to take it one step at a time. Believe in the process and before you know it, your goal that once seemed unattainable will be right there in front of you.

Just take the next step!