Relentless Forward Progress

I love this saying. I first heard it from a book about running ultras but it applies to every aspect of life. In a moment where you feel like you’ll never see the finish, just focus on relentless forward progress. No matter how small the steps are, they are moving you toward your end goal.

Relentless Forward Progress: A Guide to Running Ultramarathons by Bryon Powell. (This is an affiliate link. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. This means that if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission at no extra cost to you. All opinions remain my own. Click here to read my full disclosure policy.)

Baby steps

If you want big improvements, start with small increments of change.

You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Let’s say you want to run a marathon. (Insert any large, long-term goal here. Maybe your dream is to write a book. This concept applies to anything). That’s great! We all need to have big dreams and lofty future goals.

However, will simply having this goal in mind help you get outside and start training right now? Will it keep you motivated beyond the first chapter? The problem with big dreams is that they’re BIG. They take time, patience, and perseverance. There are setbacks along the way. There are no short-cuts or hacks that will get you where you want to be.

So often, we start off with great intentions. We make grand plans. But in the day to day grind, we lose focus and daily life gets in the way of what we had planned.

What you need to start with is baby steps. First, start doing something (anything) every day that moves you toward your goal. If you move forward, even just a little bit, consistently, you’ll end up with huge gains in the long term.

Just get started

A friend once said to me that the hardest part of running is getting on your shoes. Sometimes just getting started gives you the motivation to go further than you had planned. Get started NOW. Not January 1 for a resolution. Not next week. NOW. Just take that first step.

Make a habit of getting out that door or picking up that pen every day. Don’t make it too big or you won’t stick with it. Make it small enough that it sounds easy and you know you can do it without much interference in your daily life. You can always get bigger later. Now you just need to get started.

Do not stop

These three words will help in any situation. They also happen to remind me of a sentiment expressed by a little friend named Dory, in Finding Nemo. I may or may not hum this little ditty in my head when I hit a low point during long races.

It doesn’t matter how slowly you go. As long as you’re moving forward, you’ll continue to improve. Small, consistent steps will add up to large gains in the long run. Your baby steps now will make a huge impact on your future self.