There's a quote that I've had printed out in my office for the last decade:
"It isn’t the mountains ahead to climb that wear you out; it’s the pebble in your shoe."
For years, I credited the line to legendary boxer Muhammad Ali. But it turns out, that attribution is wrong. The first known reference to the adage appears in an unsigned filler in a 1916 insurance industry trade publication.
Fortunately, you don't need a famous name attached to the words for their lesson to ring true.
The mountain is the big, obvious obstacle that stands before you. It's easy to see. And thus, easy to blame for your lack of progress.
But what if the mountain is no more than a clever distraction?
The pebble is the small, silent saboteur that holds you back. The fixed mindset. The bad habit. The self-limiting story. The friction in your environment.
It's nothing, until it's something.
On Friday, I wrote about the Pebble Paradox: When the pebble is just bad enough to hurt, but not bad enough to fix. So, it persists.
What's the small thing you've been ignoring that's keeping you from the life you're trying to live?
Identify it. Then remove it.
You can't conquer the mountain until you remove the pebble.
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