How do you eat an elephant?

Soul-xercise

How do you eat an elephant?

How do we eat an elephant? A question that we always ask at our WINtensify seminars and Fit the Soul workshops. The answers range from the trunk, to the tail to even killing the  elephant …… Our answer as always is “in bite sized pieces”.

‘Bit by bit’? Start early, work consistently, finish strong (ahead of time) and finally, reward yourself for finishing early

Start early: Whether it’s a research paper that needs to be submitted in college, a design project or a deadline at work, version 1.01 is the hardest. We end up delaying the start because we do not know where and how to begin. Dive in, by breaking it up into smaller bite sized pieces (remember, we need to eat the elephant). Fix that first small piece and then proceed by fixing one piece at a time, around each other to ultimately complete your jig saw puzzle.

Work consistently and finish strong: Irrespective of whether you are in the mood, whether you see progress, work on it every single day. James Clear in his book, Atomic Habits talks about the growth of the bamboo shoot. Bamboo can barely be seen for the first five years since it builds extensive root systems underground before finally exploding ninety feet into the air within six weeks. Your project may be at the roots, but consistently working on it will similarly shoot it out of the ground at an amazing speed. For example, if you are trying to read a difficult book, set a realistic target such as reading one chapter a day. So whatever it takes, finish one chapter and before you know it, you have reached the end of the book.

When I embarked on my first high altitude trek, The Everest Base Camp Trek, (akaEBC) in 2014, I had never even done an overnight trek before, let alone one on the Himalayan range. Here was I taking on an 18000 feet trek as my first big leap. From the day I signed up, I began preparing, 4 whole months ahead of the trek date(start early). I just kept up with my running schedule, began building mybody strength and conditioning and reset my eating habits on to increase muscle mass (work consistently). Four months later,we flew into Kathmandu, and started the trek. The first few days were heady. I felt like rock star, all my training was paying off. I was keeping up with the trek leader pace for pace. I felt literally and emotionally on top of the world. Sadly, the day before the summit, the honeymoon ended.I was hit by a bout of high altitude pulmonary edema. I was out of breath, my lungs filled with fluid and I could barely walk. Yet I could see base camp ahead of me. The meaning of ‘so close, ye so far away’ was now real. All evening, my team kept checking my oxygen level. That night I was finally told that if the oxygen level did not improve, I would have to abort the trek and perhaps even be airlifted to Kathmandu. My whole world came crashing down at that moment. Next morning was going to be our final stretch. Had I come this far for nothing? Fortunately, the next morning, my oxygen level was sufficient, I could trek. But I was still really exhausted and still quite sick. Even so, I decided to press ahead. Tashi, the Sherpa and head guide stuck with me to support me through this. He asked me “Jaa sakta hai?” I nodded to say we would continue. I struggled on the ridge walking straight into the cold Himalayan winds, but I just soldiered on till I finally reached the Everest Base Camp, the legendary EBC! I had made it (finish strong). The entire team was there cheering me on and waiting to take a group picture.

Reward yourself: Every time you finish a task ahead of time, reward yourself. Spend the extra time surfing television shows, immerse yourself in social media, doing a little dance and be or even better, stretch out and do nothing!!!! How about that? How did I reward myself after my first EBC trek? When I got back, I promised myself one high altitude trek every year! (reward yourself).

Forget about the goal, forget about how long it’s going to take. Start Begin today, BEFORE you’re ready. Just take your first bite of the elephant, and let the momentum eventually guide you to the end.

How do you eat an elephant?