A journey of 140,000 steps
Ashish Chawla
Brand strategist | Angel Investor| Fueled by Oranges | Founder @ 1729 Digital
Paulo Coelho had said “If you only walk on sunny days, you'll never reach your destination.
About 5 years ago, on 24th January 2016 I accomplished one of my longest walks - Oxfam 100KM Trailwalker. India's biggest walkathon for a cause was not only a test of human endurance and the burning desire of contributing to community in a constructive way but by all means it was also a leap inward. A walk that draws its parallel from the journey of life.
When you are in the 0-25km (0-25 years), you are full of energy, have formed new friendships, learnt from more experienced walkers, and have fun along the way.
When you are in the 26-50km (26-50 years), you tend to identify your own pace, your personal style, and have started building opinion around others and recognising your core circle. At the same time, physical strength is declining, and the body is experiencing episodic pain.
However, when you are in the 51-75 km (51-75 years), the journey tilts from physical to mental strength. Pace slows down significantly, agility takes an all-time dip, inability to take risks, and frequent falling back on the core group for support increases. By this time, few of the fellow walkers have given up completely.
Now, when you are in the last leg of 75-100km (76 - 100 years) – The journey gets most isolated - being consistent and mentally strong is the key. Cherishing the fun memories from 0-25 km, positive life lessons from 26-50 km, care and mutual strength shared by co-walkers from 51-75 km will get you through this most demanding phase. And finally, having your family at the end line is the most rewarding moment you could ever cherish.
To sum up my learnings:
1. Inner circle that motivates you is the key to your long-term success
2. Endurance, hard work and persistence help you achieve bigger goals
3. And finally, a dollop of fun and laughter during the journey makes it easy and memorable.
…. This was mine, share your life lessons – I am all ears!
Partner - Quality Engineering and Testing Services
4 年Beautifully written Ashish !! - and for a brief moment I was transported 5 years back - where I traced back every one of those 140,000 steps with fond memories :) Looking back I am really glad that we did this as a team To me it reinforced my life lessons: - to have something to walk towards a goal with a cause or simply nothing at all !! - to have some one to walk with - with fun and laughter The rest, as they say, is elementary Watson ;) While the pains disappear- the memories linger :) Thanks Ashish - for trial walking, twice over !!.
Information Security Governance, Risk and Compliance Specialist
4 年Nicely written, Ashish! It’s a shame we haven’t done another Trailwalk after this...
LinkedIn “Top Voice” | Strategy & Growth | IE MBA | Yale SOM
4 年Brilliantly written, you summed up the learnings of life in a walkathon. Proud of you buddy
Investing - Private Equity, Venture Capital, Venture Debt, Private Debt
4 年Inspiring Ashish Chawla ,thanks for sharing