The answer — 1 Hurdle at a time.
I have a lot of hurdles in my life. Some are self-imposed hurdles, and some just come with the territory……..basically because I live on the planet earth.
I find myself looking at the finish line — and not dealing with what it will take me to get there.
I want to lose (too many to list here) pounds — NOW.
I want to finish school — NOW.
I want to know what tomorrow holds — NOW.
etc etc etc.
And when I look at the BIG picture, I get overwhelmed, I get discouraged……..and I tend to be the one who trips me up.
And though I do like the BIG PICTURE……..sometimes I need to stop and fine tune it down to the small print.
To break it down into small pieces — in other words, like the old joke — “how do you eat an elephant?” one bite at a time.
And I need to remember that with my teachers too. In some ways, I am at near the end of the finish line of “tech” and am urging them to catch up, more quickly than perhaps they are ready for. I haven’t allowed them to stretch, to exercise, to get into “tech” shape……..yet I am pushing them pushing them pushing them…..perhaps beyond where they are really capable of being yet.
I — we — need to sometimes break the BIG picture up into little pieces which are obtainable now…..or otherwise, at least in my case, the frustration of possible failure becomes much more apparent because the picture is way too big.
And sometimes, I need to step back and salute and rejoice them (me) getting over that ONE hurdle before I even start planning the next.
Just my thoughts for today.
Jen
Interesting. Because that’s the opposite to the strategy a hurdler would use to get over hurdles.
A hurdler (one who jumps a series of hurdles in the Olympic games) devises a general strategy for jumping hurdles. This strategy informs the running in between the hurdles, and even the jumping of previous hurdles.
By having a general strategy, the runner is prepared long before each hurdle appears in his path.
On a related note, you would need a plan to eat an elephant too. It is going to take a long time to eat an elephant, and so you need to plan for the bits you haven’t eaten yet, or they’ll go bad and be much harder to eat.
The reason the big picture seems overwhelming is that it is being depicted as a large number of small pictures. But the big picture is rarely like that.
Large, long-term projects are always best accomplished with a long-term all-encompassing strategy. Whether one wants to lose weight or finish school, the overall plan needs to be kept in mind.
Thanks Stephen for taking the time to post……
you can tell I have never been a hurdler — so I thank you for your perspective.
I agree, that you do need to keep your eye on the final goal….the final achievement…….in some ways the final victory…….
Yet, I think it is important to remember the journey along the way…and plan for it as well. Which I believe you would agree to??
Thank you for taking the time to post.
Sometimes obstacles seem bigger than they really are and when you have support and help, the obstacles tend to shrink in size.
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