Happy, happy Sunday! Have you had a productive day? Or was it more of an R&R situation? Both are equally as valuable in my opinion (not that you asked but, ya know).
We did something today that we haven’t done in a long time, a long ass walk in the Peak District! This time it was the Monsal Trail, it’s supposed to be 4 miles but we went a bit wrong so ended up doing more which I would like to state for the record: was not my fault. I wasn’t in charge of the directions!
Anyway, as always happens with these walks, it starts off all holding hands and slowly ambling along. We stop for lunch midway through and it’s all laughter and love. Then my legs get tired, blisters start to hurt, I check my watch more frequently and the conversation stops in favour of focusing on breathing and putting one foot in front of the other.
Anyway, I’ll get to the point quicker than we got round the walk, I promise. When we’re about 75% of the way through it feels like I’ve been walking forever yet we’re still a good trek away from the car.
So, as my watch ticked past 6.5km, and we were most definitely not back at the car, and we were on an incline, and I had stones in my shoes, and my knee pain was spreading to my hips… instead of opening my mouth and caving to the urge to complain, I started to list everything that was good right there in that moment.
Our dog was bumbling along beside us and behaving really well. We’d have a lovely lunch which was both healthy and tasty. I had legs that worked and were carrying me. We were in an outstandingly beautiful part of the country we’re very lucky to live in and were under 2 hours drive from home in our nice car. I was wearing a good brand of comfortable trainers, leggings and top.
I took in the view, not just from the highest height once we’d reached the top but all around me on the journey. The sheep, the wildflowers, the grass. I breathed in the smell, fresh country air. I listened to the crickets, the cows, the trees. I touched the walls and the stiles and the gates.
And, before I knew it – we’d reached the top, achieved our goal and completed the challenge. And I’d enjoyed the entire journey (and Keiran wasn’t grumpy from hearing me moan for the last half hour). I’d turned my negative thoughts which would have made the final leg of the walk seem to last forever, probably ruined the memory of the entire day and inhibited me from realising the wonders that we’re all around me.
Hands up if you can relate my story from today to the journey you go on to achieve your business goals? 🙋🏼♀️. When you set the goal and break out of the starting box it’s all exciting, an adventure. You have a plan, you know it won’t be instant but it’s new and shiny and you’re motivated. You reach a reasonable point where you’ve achieved a lot thus far so you allow yourself a break to evaluate, take stock and recharge. Then suddenly it feels like you’ve been working towards the same thing for too long, it becomes harder to repeat the mundane tasks which are actually necessary to move forwards – but you’ve been doing them for so long that you’re now tired of simply putting one foot in front of the other and walking. You want to spring towards the finish, you just want to reach your goal like, now, but you don’t have the energy and there’s no magic lift to the finish line.
So, instead of stopping continuously, going off track or changing direction altogether. Why not look around you to pull out the positives from along the journey? The people you meet, the skills you learn, the growth you go through. Keep on taking those steps, one by one, don’t rush, enjoy the journey and not only will you enjoy it more but you’ll stay on track and reach that finish line before you know it.
Then when you’re at the top, looking down at where you came from, you’ll feel really bloody good about every single part of the process.