Break It Down

Earlier this week we had the great privilege to have West Point graduate and Green Beret, Ben Harrow, join us for a conversation inside Mindful Journey.

In 2012, during an anti-terrorism mission in Afghanistan, Ben stepped on an IED and his life changed in an instant. He immediately lost both legs above the knee, two fingers, and suffered significant injuries to his arm and other parts of his body. When he woke up at Walter Reed Hospital, doctors told he and his family that he’d never walk again.

Committed to defying the odds, Ben knew he must put in the work, but noted in our conversation that the mountain to climb felt insurmountable. So, he decided to break down his goal into smaller and seemingly more manageable steps. He asked himself, “if I want to get out of this hospital, what’s the first thing I need to do?”

Get off the drugs.

He was heavily medicated, understandably, after stepping on a bomb just weeks prior. But he knew, staying on pain medication was not sustainable.

And then he asked himself the question again: "what's the next thing I need to do?" And then the next thing. And then the next. One small, deliberate step at a time. Until eventually, he did indeed walk again.

Ben's story is one of the most remarkable examples of human will and perseverance. And while many of us may not be facing a challenge of this magnitude, the principle he applied is one that each of us can use in our own lives.

Because the truth is, we all have a mountain. It may not look like Ben's. But it's there.

Maybe it's a business you've been wanting to launch for years. A relationship you've been meaning to repair. A degree you've been putting off. A health goal that feels too far out of reach. Whatever it is, the reason most of us don't start, or give up before we finish, is because we look to the end destination and convince ourselves that we may never get there.

And so we don't act.

Which is why the challenge this week is to identify what “mountain” may be in front of you, and then consciously choose to break it down into small, manageable steps.

The challenge: break it down!

To begin, you may find it helpful to reflect on and answer these questions:

What is the one goal, dream, or challenge in my life that feels most overwhelming right now?Why does it feel so big?
What is one small thing I could do today that would move me even slightly in the right direction?

Start there.

Just one step; not the whole staircase.

Ben didn't wake up at Walter Reed and set his sights on the exit door. He set his sights on what was directly in front of him. And when he accomplished that, he moved to the next thing. That's the method.

As you work through this challenge, you may consider writing your goal at the top of a piece of paper. Beneath it, list every step you believe would need to happen in order to achieve it. Don't worry about the order yet. Just get it out of your head and onto the page. Then, organize those steps in sequence, and identify the very first one. The smallest one. The one that feels almost too easy.

This is your starting point.

Because momentum is built in the small moments. Not the grand ones. And often, the simple act of beginning — of taking that first step — is enough to shift everything. It quiets the doubt, builds belief, and moves you from a place of feeling paralyzed by the size of the goal, to feeling empowered by the progress you're making toward it.

Ben Harrow is proof that the insurmountable can be surmounted. Not all at once. But one broken down, deliberate step at a time.

This week, look at the mountain, break it down, and take your first step.

Have a great week!