Step by Step

Now that we are in the middle of the winter and the Alps are covered with powder, my hiking group has understandably swapped their hiking boots for ski boots. I don't blame them. Unfortunately, learning to downhill ski is still somewhere on the bottom of my bucket list and it is highly unlikely I would be joining them this winter.  Instead, while my fellow mountaineers enjoy their ski runs somewhere on the massive Alpine playground, I decided to fill my hiking gaps with running stairs. I made it my cardio exercise of choice when we lived in the hilly California. Now that I live Bern, the numerous long stair alleys scattered around the city allowed me to get back to it. However torturous running stairs is, I like it because of the efficiency of the exercise and the views that the steep, open-air gyms usually offer.

As I was trying to complete my stair challenge yesterday, I noticed three things which made me reflect on multi-step challenges in general.

First, I noticed that when I tried to keep my eyes on the top of the stairs, I simply struggled to run. As soon as I lowered my head and focused my gaze on the very next step beneath my feet, I was able to get to the top of the stairs with ease. Isn't it what happens when we try to deal with other manifold projects or challenges?  

Let’s take a challenge of finding a new job. To achieve that goal, we must go through a multi-stage process. It involves deciding what we would like to do next, finding a job opening, writing or rewriting our resume and a cover letter, applying, interviewing, and finally signing a contract. It goes without saying that in order to find a job, we should always remember that this is our main goal and always ensure that we are on track. However, if we only keep our gaze on the main goal, or the top of the stairs, we might feel overwhelmed and perhaps discouraged. How do we get there? Where do we start? Looking only upwards, we might not even notice there is a convenient stairway that leads us to our goal. If our goal is really ambitious, we might decide we don’t have enough time or skills to undertake such a massive challenge. There is another way.

If we look around us, not only might we notice the beginning of the stair pathway, but we might also realize that the individual steps, or sets of steps, are quite manageable goals.  Even if we don’t have time or energy to run ten sets of stairs, we might be able to commit to five. If we don’t have enough time to go through the entire job application process, we might still have enough time to edit our resume, which will bring us a step closer to our goal.

Second thing I noticed while running the stairs was that sometimes I was tempted to skip a step. Depending on the stairway, and your natural pace, it might be a wise thing to do of course. Sometimes though, taking bigger leaps might be reckless. Are we sure we are not straining our body or risking an injury? Is rushing through the process worth never making it to the top? Besides, skipping steps will modify the process, which might lead to a different goal.

Let's imagine we skip the step of defining our dream job and just jump to browsing job openings. Not knowing what we are looking for, we might be distracted and influenced by the choices out there and apply to jobs that are not really fit for us. This in turn might lead to lots of rejection letters, discouragement, and will make the whole process very inefficient and perhaps unsuccessful.

The third thing that I noticed during my stair challenge was that walking down the stairs was surprisingly way harder than taking the stairs up. My legs were spongy, and I had to hold the rail not to fall. I almost wished I didn't have to do that. I thought it was interesting that what appeared to be an easier task, was actually harder, and the seemingly challenging aspect, when done with the right step-by-step strategy, was not only do-able but also very rewarding.

There is some curious appeal in challenges. I guess we can spend a lifetime trying to avoid them. We can just walk around a hill instead of climbing it. We can also work smarter not harder, as some would say, and take a lift, or a funicular to the top. But the feeling I get while climbing, or running sets of stairs, is what makes me want to do it again.

I am not saying that there is one best way to get to the top. I am definitely not trying to say that we should all run stairs or climb mountains in order to enjoy the views or keep our hearts healthy. I am just saying that every climb to the top begins with the first small step, followed by more small steps, one at a time.  And last but not least, to rephrase a famous hiker, who also happened to be one of the American presidents, Teddy Roosevelt, nothing in life worth having or doing is easy.