ONE STEP AT A TIME
I love hiking. I love work. There are many similarities between hiking and work. Both take effort to reach the summit.
The higher the hill or mountain, the harder the work you have to put in. It takes putting one foot in front of the other and pulling the body up, one foot at a time. Literally.
As I do that, I gasp for air and sweat buckets. More often than not, I also question my sanity with every step. Why put myself through that ‘torture’ when I can be snuggling up in bed, sleeping or hanging out in a cafe, enjoying a cuppa with friends… In other words, relaxing and taking it easy.
Work is similar. Many a times, we are faced with challenges in every day work. Pressing deadlines. Rude clients or worse, lackadaisical co-workers. Come, let’s admit it, there are times that we just want to throw in the towel and walk away. Why be so disciplined? Why keep at it, doing your best especially when you see others getting away with sloppy work and ugly attitude?
The reality is this: If I do that, it means I will never reach the summit – whether hiking or at work. If we give in to the impulse, I will miss the lessons, and not risen above the situation and people. I will never experience the high you get from the sense of achievement arising from overcoming challenges. More than this, I will also never grow in the confidence that I am and can be stronger than my circumstances… that I am not a quitter in the face of adversity.
The truth is, rising to challenges pushes us to achieve more than what we think we can. Until we attempt it, and give it all we have, we will never know.
Challenges build character.