The impact of a single step

Oh no, we’re lost.” I quickly realized in agony as my family aimlessly walked around Higashi-Umeda Station in Osaka, Japan, four years ago. We came from Universal Studios and had a long way to go to reach our hotel.

It was late at night, my bags of merchandise were getting heavier by the minute, and I wanted to ask my parents if I could take a nap right there, on the floor, because the long journey was terrifying to a sleep-deprived 12-year-old.

Waiting is insufferable. Some journeys may be as overwhelming as they are unbearable. Similarly, the path toward our own life goals may strike as a horror genre to most of us. After all, nothing is scarier than having our dreams out of reach.

The reasoning of “too big,” “too expensive” or “too impossible” creates an enormous draining chasm between us and the destination. The greater the dream, the longer the travel time. Sometimes, it may be a shame that there is no bullet train to take us there.

A well-known Chinese proverb reads, “A journey of a thousand miles starts with one step.” We will never arrive at the finish line if we never start in the first place. The perfect fuel for our automotive on the road to our hopes and dreams are the small actions we take every day. It could be disciplining ourselves, adding a new habit to our routine or applying for something new. Either way, the best way to get results is to start doing.

The accumulation of small actions executed over time makes a massive difference. Wanting to accomplish Z means having to accomplish all the letters before it. It is too easy to look at what we have not done and send ourselves down a black hole of self-loathing. However, we should focus on what we can do—put one foot in front of the other.

It would be impossible to climb the stairs of life if the gaps are too wide. If we hold small actions in equal regard as the prominent ones, we will one day look back and see that we are miles away from where we first started.

The best step to take is one more step.

—CONTRIBUTED