Small Steps to Success

To many, success seems to come suddenly. When you observe others and what they have achieved you usually don't appreciate what it has taken for them to get where they are. Ultimately, in failing to do this you also fail to learn what it would take for you to attain the same level of achievement and success.

But, if you take the time to truly think about it, you will find that success is usually only a small step away. Yet despite that it eludes most people. It is always so near and yet so far. Let me illustrate what I mean with a short story.

A lesson from military school: As part of our military training in the air force we were given a very demanding assignment. We were put in groups of about 10 and taken to some unknown location far in the bush. After a few days of camping there and doing some military manoeuvres, we were told to head back to the base. Only this time we wouldn't be driven back – we would have to hike back.

We had only a few things to carry - a litre of water each for the whole trip and an AK47 riffle with one round of ammunition.

So we started off that day at sunset, walking through the thick bush. Because we were using a campus for direction we had to walk in a straight line back to the base. Any slight deviation from the path and we would inevitably have gotten lost. That meant that whatever obstacle we encountered on the way had to be overcome. That straight line had to be maintained at all costs. Worse still, we had no light - we were basically walking blind in the moonless night.

So you could not see where your next step was going to land. But we had to walk fast. Our deadline was 12 noon the next day to be at the base - or else we would have failed the assignment.

So we walked through the night. There was no time for fear, no time for doubt. We had to do what we had to do. Our futures depended on it.

Just take it one step at a time: As I walked through that unknown and scary world one thought kept going through my mind…It was… "Just take it one step at a time. Doesn't worry about what will happen later, just think about each step… one small step to success"… That was the idea I hang on to.

So with that I found some courage to get going. We moved on through grass as tall as giraffes and as tough as bamboo. Our hands were pierced, bruised and sliced as we searched around in the dark to make a path to go through. We conquered what seemed to have been endless mountains on the way. The rocks were so hard on our tired feet it was as though we had no boots on. Our legs cried for mercy from the effort of climbing up the steep slopes. We had to keep moving… "small steps to success."