Out of all the benefits that I have derived from my regular exercise habit, the ability to take things one step at a time has had the greatest effect on my life outside of the gym. Prior to making regular exercise a part of my life, I tended to look at the big picture exclusively, and as a result, became easily overwhelmed. Writing out a list of goals for a specific workout, starting, gradually chugging away, and finishing them off one at a time, led me to a realization. I found that I could approach life in general in a similar manner. The BIG goal is really a series of very small goals which can themselves be subdivided even further into single steps. Putting this into practice took, well, practice, but I have met with success more often than not.
It’s worth mentioning that within this process, I do my best to maintain a spirit of flexibility and self-reflection. For example, if I find that there is internal resistance to a certain task I’ll take a step back and explore other corollary tasks to see if starting something else more easeful. Sometimes it’s just not the right time to do a particular thing! Or, if there is a strong sense that I need to switch gears and possibly re-evaluate whether or not the task at hand is a priority I will try to honor that feeling and allow my intuition to guide me towards more pressing matters.
I remember a particular incident when I was visiting a relative who was do-it-yourselfing a new cabin. On that day, he was taking on the electrical system. The job was ridiculously complex and there were piles of notes, wires, and various tools lying about in a chaotically organized way. When I asked him how he was able to do it, he remarked, “It’s like eating an elephant, you just take one bite at a time”.
‘Nuff said!
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