Stairs are Made of Stable, Small Steps
For the longest time, mankind has been fascinated both literally and figuratively with the concept of achieving greater heights. Before we even knew that we were on a giant oblique spheroid hurtling through the Universe at unimaginable speeds, we have never been content with the concept of staying put. The human species, the planet Earth's dominant species, and thus far, the only identified established civilization in the Universe, has come a long way from the Eden plains of Sub-Saharan Africa to almost about every corner of the globe. Horizontal expansion has always been an easy piece of cake for us with our bipedal physique and it became even easier as we mastered domestication of animals far stronger than us and capable of allowing their new human masters to reach even further destinations. Then we discovered how to temporarily bring hard surfaces across waters and go even further now no longer hindered by the rivers, seas, and oceans that once imprisoned and limited our mobility.
Our next great goal was to conquer the vertical limits that kept us anchored to the ground. Without even knowing Newtonian gravity and how the mass of our planet has kept us prisoner to this rocky ball, we always felt and knew that higher was better. Soon mankind was able to scale mountains and build fortresses atop these, we were soon able to build monuments, edifices, and wonders that took us to different levels. We conquered gravity and matched the clouds, the birds, and clambered closer to heavenly bodies in the sky.
That passionate introduction about physics and civilization is a great precept and beginning to a series towards how, we in the age of corporate competitiveness and performance can be able to learn from the lessons of history and apply it to ourselves. Today, we dream of going to greater heights, just like our ancient ancestors also did and now we want to pursue it with our capabilities, with our skills, with our achievements, and with our accomplishments. Whether it's to become the next billionaire or if it's to deliver a lasting impact by changing the world for the better or if it's to impress that cute girl in the cubicle across you in the hopes of one day establishing a family with her, we are constantly dreaming and yearning to move from where we are to somewhere far better.
Sadly, the journey to that lofty goal is oftentimes sidetracked and not accomplishing it makes us anxious, transforms us into worriers, and can lead to desperation and depression. This can be traced to a mindset that most of us appear to be stuck in. We think that getting from our current position to that dream destination is done in one single gargantuan leap. A magic snap that transforms everything around us to our favor. Analogically comparing this to our earlier premise on the journey of mankind, we conquered gravity and moved upwards through a very simple yet impacting invention. The stairs. Stairs have allowed us to conquer our physical barriers and have allowed us to scale great heights within our strength and capabilities. We cannot scale a 100 meter monastery on a cliff side by flapping our arms or by coiling our legs and jumping upward. We conquer that journey by climbing steps, each step taking us a little bit higher off the ground, each step giving us the comfort of a solid footing that allows us to take the 999 more that wil take us to greater heights.
Getting from where we are to where we want to be can be accomplished with the right steps. The journey is potentially and entirely possible, it is something we can accomplish not only once in our lifetime but several times over. It does require a lot of focus, discipline, determination, and perseverance. Just like the humble step on the stairway that takes us to the sky.