In his iconic book, Great by Choice, Jim Collins tells the following story.
It is 1916. Two teams (Admunsen and Scott) have set out on foot, racing each other to be the first to reach the South Pole. The weather is brutal, the terrain punishing, and both groups are working with limited time and supplies to reach their perilous goal.
Scott’s team would push as hard as they could on nice weather days, sometimes trekking 40-60 miles in a day. On bad weather days, they would stay in their tents, complaining about the weather and bemoaning their fate.
Admunsen’s team had a set goal. No matter the weather, they would advance 20 miles. If the storms were raging, 20 miles. If the weather was fair, 20 miles. Even when his team pushed him to go further, Admunsen refused, knowing the importance of rest and recuperation.
Admunsen’s team beat Scott’s team to the South Pole. Not only that, Scott’s team ran out of supplies and perished on the return trip. Warm, fuzzy story, eh?
But, there is a powerful lesson within. When you take a Big Fat Hairy Goal, and divide it into incremental steps, you map out a way to reach YOUR South Pole. When you give yourself daily micro-goals, and do this (and no more) each and every day, you pave your way to success.
We all tend to hop on the hamster wheel, exhaust ourselves, and then burn out. Repeat x1000. But what if we create our own 20 mile marches? Hefty goals, but ones we can accomplish? And after we finish them, what if we pat ourselves on the back and declare ourselves done for the day? No lingering guilt for not finishing the entire project, no need to put in bonus time.
What if, on hard days, we perservere and accomplish our 20 miles too? How would this give us a sense of mastery and control over our world?
What is your 20 mile march today?
JoyPlusGrace 