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I nearly quit last week.

It's hiking and lake szn in Arizona for the crazies like me who enjoy being outside when it's 100+ out.

Now that I don't really play rugby anymore I've been trying to find a new hobby that doesn't take up too much of my time. I'd LOVE to learn how to box or kickbox but my flexibility is at 0.

So I've been hiking more. I took my sister, her boyfriend, and our cousin to Camelback (a popular and difficult hike in Phoenix) which gave me the confidence to try an even more difficult hike.

Flatiron. See that flat bit of mountain at the tippy top? That's the end of the hike.

I hiked the infamous flatiron about 7 years ago when I was super fit. It was difficult then so why did I decide to do it again when I'm not nearly as strong knowing it was going to be hot out??

I love to punish myself I guess. 🙄

What started out as a gradual incline turned into a smooth canyon (in the middle of the above pic) that then turned into about 2.5 miles of scrambling, climbing boulders, and a vertical rock wall I wasn't tall enough for.

After 2 hours of climbing...I was exhausted.

AllTrails told us that we were *just* 0.1 miles away from the top for half a freaking hour.

I wanted to stop and go home. The bugs were swarming and I was frustrated that my former high-achieving athlete self was struggling.

But the thought of giving up bothered me more.

So I kept going.

I climbed up the rock wall by hanging onto a tree branch with relief. We enjoyed the desert views, took a quick break, then headed back down.

Was it easier? Umm...actually not lol.

The trail was so steep I couldn't stand in certain areas and had to sit and scoot down. My knees hurt. And I don't even have bad knees (just a laundry list of other things that hurt).

I was 👏🏽 t i r e d 👏🏽 getting back into the car. But so satisfied that I pushed through the whole thing because that disappointment would've followed me all the way home.

Which got me thinking...

This happens in business all the time.

We:

→ network and cold email trying to find best-fit clients

→ follow up with leads and forget to follow up again

→ secure a client and neglect to market ourselves

→ go into a panic when a project is done and thinking we're failures at business (spoiler: you're not)

Running a business is time consuming. It's not a race even if your feed is flooded with "how I became a millionaire in 30 days" reels.

Those reels aren't reality. They're a distraction. If you're taking small steps towards your goals I PROMISE you that will lead you somewhere even if progress feels miniscule.

Baby steps aren't tentative. They're intentional.

Baby steps are what's going to get you to your goals.

What can you do today that can move you forward? Is it committing to one networking event a month, reaching out to past clients, or maybe even posting on Facebook/IG about your services?

Progress doesn't happen overnight. It takes MANY steps involving planning, setbacks, and breakthroughs.

And you never know, you might surprise yourself along the way. The way up is hard. I know. But you will be so proud of yourself when you get there--which is probably closer than you think.