We all have something difficult we’re trying to accomplish. Whether it’s starting a business or losing weight, finishing a creative project or building a barn, the mammoth task sits before us. The very thought of its enormity is overwhelming. The thought of completing it, we can’t fathom. The light at the end of the tunnel is nowhere in sight.
What ought you do?
Do what the great (and prolific) author Rich Cohen does. On the Daily Stoic podcast, Rich explained how he’s able to be so consistently productive at such a high level (9 books published so far, many of them bestsellers). He said he approaches a big project like he approaches a cross-country road trip. “The way you deal with long road trips is you set yourself a minimum number of hours a day, no matter how you feel.”
The point is that “not much” adds up if you do it a lot. That’s what Marcus meant when he said, “Don’t let your imagination be crushed by life as a whole.” All you have to do, he said, is “stick with the situation at hand.” He also talks about assembling your life action by action—no one, he says, can stop you from that.
But this metaphor of the road is a good one. Because excellence is a road. There is a road to being a successful writer or entrepreneur. To that promotion or that award. The road to finishing this task or that project. And how do you travel any road? You travel a road in steps. A certain number of miles or hours per day.
Excelling at anything is a matter of taking one small step then another then another. One in front of the other. Even when you don’t feel like it. Even when it doesn’t feel like it’s making much of a dent. Because it is. You’re getting closer. Eventually, you will arrive and it will be wonderful.
That’s what Zeno meant when he said, “Well-being is realized by small steps, but is no small thing.”
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You can listen to our full interview with Rich Cohen here on The Daily Stoic podcast, which has hit over 70 million downloads worldwide! Thank you to everyone who has listened. And if you haven’t already, please subscribe!“
