Creating a Visual Ladder
It was a beautiful crisp fall morning, and I decided to head to the trails and take a bike ride. I have always loved riding my mountain bike--whether racing it or spending a morning on a leisurely cruise. But this trail was new, and there were a few unexpected twists and turns--and the hills. Oh my, the hills. I was told by a friend that the final hill was by far the worst uphill climb, but that the reward on the way down was well worth it.
A little winded, I paused at the bottom of the hill, looked up at it, and sighed. I was tired, ready to be done, and even if the downhill on the other side was awesome, I just wanted to quit. It was too steep, too high, and too long of a climb for the final hill. But then I remembered a trick I learned when I was training for racing.
It was called building a ladder. Here's how it works. You put your bike in low gear (peddle faster, wheels turn slower, making it easier) as you start to climb. The goal is to focus not on the top of the hill but on just a few feet in front of you. Find a spot on the ground and fix your eyes on that position and then visualize pulling yourself to that spot. Once the front wheel hits the spot, move your eyes to the next. The idea is to keep doing this over and over until you reach the top.
Instead of looking at a seemingly impossible goal at the top of the hill--especially when you're tired--create incremental steps or smaller goals that are more easily accomplished. You would be surprised at how quickly and painlessly you can get to the top of the hill. And then enjoy the downhill thrill ride.
But we don't do this with our goals in life. We are taught as kids to dream big, shoot for the stars--all that inspiring stuff. But I don't ever remember anyone telling me about all the tiny steps I needed to take to get there. So what happens? We end up staring at a mountain to climb, but we are too stressed, too busy, too broke, too ill-equipped, and too tired to bother. So there sits your dream, the top of the mountain seemingly unattainable and unachievable. And what's worse, you never get to enjoy the thrill of what's on the other side.
A little at a time. As you think through your big goals in life, think about creating a visual ladder and pull yourself to each rung, step by step. Before you know it, you're flying down the other side, goal accomplished.
Challenges/Points:
Although we are often taught the bigger the goal, the better, it can become unachievable because they are too daunting.
The solution is to take just a few steps at a time by creating your own visual ladder.
When you take a few steps at a time, you will be amazed at how quickly you will get to the top of the mountain.
Questions:
So what is that goal? The big one that you one day hope to accomplish?
Does this goal seem too much to accomplish? Why or why not?
What are the small goals that you can achieve little by little along the way?
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