Climbing a Mountain – One Step at a Time

Many years ago I listened to an interview of a well known author. As the interview progressed one of the questions had to do with writers block. The interviewer wanted to know what special things the writer did to reinvigorate his creative juices. ‘Do you kayak, hike, watch a sunset, …. Where to you find inspiration?”

The author’s answer was insightful. “I find inspiration by doing. I sit down at the typewriter and begin writing. Inspiration is not found on the top of a mountain, it is found through good, old fashioned, hard work. On difficult days the product may not be very good but sometimes I stumble onto an idea that becomes pivotal to the story line. Activity drives results in my case.”

What the author shared is true in so many parts of our life. We have all seen friends who talk about finding the perfect business, job, home, …. They look and look but they are never ‘inspired’ enough to actually do anything. These types of individuals need to find the perfect answer prior to taking action. As a result, they never accomplish anything.

On the other hand, we have also seen the person that simply begins to work. This type of person does not look left or right. They may not have a college degree and they never expect the heavens to part and show them the golden path. They simply work. Days become months then years. One day they realize that they have built an incredibly successful business. They have no debt, send their children to the best colleges and retire well.

‘Dreaming’ is good but ‘Doing’ is the only form of real progress. Remember the old question – ‘How to you climb a mountain?’ The answer is simply – ‘one step at a time’.   Or, as Yogi Berra might have said, “If you are not moving, you are not going anywhere.”