On Monday, I shared I was terrified the first time I climbed a mountain. Mostly, because I wasn’t ready. But honestly, I made it all the way to the peak that day. It felt amazing.
Until, I hurt my knee on the way down. Then Tony half carried me about three miles as I wobbled back to the car. We were dating at the time, and boy did that experience solidify our relationship. But it also taught me I had to get in better shape if I wanted to do it again.
Sometimes, the mountains we want to climb in our lives, we’re not ready for.
Sometimes, the mountains we want to climb in our lives, we’re not ready for. Whether we want to run a marathon or live a healthier lifestyle, get our dream job or get promoted where we are—whatever our mountain is, there is a chance we may not be ready for it. And there is a strong possibility, we don’t feel ready for it. Only deep down, we want it so badly, which means,
We can’t give up.
We can’t wait around thinking someday we’ll magically be ready. Instead, if our mountain feels like it might be a lot for us right now, we need to look for ways to prepare ourselves for the climb. We need to identify the small mountains we need to scale first, that will prepare us for our big one.
We need to start small.
Rather than looking at the year ahead of us as an endless path to the top of our mountain, we need to begin with shorter trails. We need to give ourselves goals or end dates we can almost reach out and touch. In other words,
We need to do a Challenge.
A challenge is a set program to do a certain thing daily for a short amount of time. It could be a week, twenty-one days, a month, or even three months. It’s a structured period of time to help us begin changing our habits and moving us toward our goals.
Right now, there are fitness and diet challenges happening at our local gyms, online, and maybe even where you work. But physical challenges aren’t the only one’s out there. There are creative challenges that will have us create art, play music, or write daily. There are meditation challenges to help us find quiet and focus in our loud world. And if your goals are career oriented this year, I am sure there are short-term classes or webinars that can help you on your journey.
If your mountain feels way too big to even begin thinking about it in 2020, don’t dismiss it.
Over the years, I have done a few challenges. Some of them have shaped my habits for years now. Others were fantastic “mini mountains” that helped me see where I still need to learn and grow to be ready for my big mountains. This was especially true when I did NANOWRIMO for the month of November. I wrote basically the length of a novel in thirty days. I’m not sure I will publish what I wrote for NANOWRIMO, but I learned so much from the process that will help me write a book someday (one of my big mountains).
If your mountain feels way too big to even begin thinking about it in 2020, don’t dismiss it. Instead, start small. Look for a challenge that will help get you started. Or find a bunch of challenges, take what you like from them, then create your own.
Just because you don’t have it in you to climb to the top of your mountain today, doesn’t mean you don’t have it in you to climb it someday. Start getting ready for it today.
If there was anything I learned in 2019, it is that life is too short to put things off. Just because you don’t have it in you to climb to the top of your mountain today, doesn’t mean you don’t have it in you to climb it someday. Start getting ready for it today.
What is your big mountain?
What smaller mountain could you climb this season to get ready for it?
Stay tuned, as on Monday I will share with you what part of my challenge looks like for the month of January.
Want 2020 to be different? Sign up for my email list, and get my Five Ways to Declutter Your Mind resource. In it I share five ways to cut through the noise in your life, to find more peace and clarity.
Photo by Nick Bolton on Unsplash
