Step by Step

The reporter was interviewing the Irish Paralympian Jason Smyth. He had run his race in 10.2 seconds to gain his gold medal, a great achievement whether paralympian or not. He was asked if now he was going to try to achieve a goal of under 10 seconds. His reply was quick and definite - 'NO'. 'Why not?' asked the reporter a little surprised. The athlete then went on to explain why he thought that such a suggestion was unrealistic, not because he couldn't do it eventually but that he found the best way to achieve a goal was a little at a time - step by step.


 

 

 

Jason Smyth

To achieve even 10.2 seconds took a lot of hard work, training and effort. He said that with more hard work and effort his first goal would be 10.1 seconds and when he had done that, then he would try for 10 seconds. If that was achievable then he would think about under 10 seconds. His reasoning was that if he tried immediately to go for the ultimate goal, then he would probably feel that it was out of reach and any shortcoming would be felt as failure and this would not be helpful in his attitude to achieve his goal. Very wise words, I thought.

We are often told that in order to achieve a far-off goal, we should break the process down into small steps. Each time we reach the next step, we are spurred on to reach the following step, then the one after that and so on until we are within sight of reaching our desired goal. A now 'old' Christian song has the words 'step by step we're moving forwards, little by little gaining ground.' Another spiritual song says 'one day at a time' and I guess that is the secret. Some things do seem a very long way away and impossible to achieve whether that be in sport, studies, gaining a desired weight loss or reaching some other destination or goal. If we can break it down into smaller, more achievable steps, who knows what heights we can reach and what goals we can attain?

I saw this picture and thought of all my very 'crafty' friends!