Some evenings the road ahead of me feels endless. My mother, getting older. Work that depends on me far too much. The plans for UNO.TEAM, still so big. When I try to take it all in at once, I get dizzy – and in the end I do nothing at all.
What helped me was a simple picture that came to me out on the road in the dark: the streetlight. When it’s dark, I can’t see the end of the street. I only see the circle of light under the next lamp. And that’s enough. I can walk that far. Once I’m there, I see the next one.
I call it my streetlight principle: I don’t need to know what the whole road looks like. I only need to see the next doable step. Not the perfect step. Not the big breakthrough. The next one that is genuinely possible today.
It sounds small. It is. But that’s exactly where the strength lies. A big goal paralyses us when it only ever stands in front of us as a whole. A small step gets us moving – and moving changes how we think.
Many guides sell us the five-year plan, the grand vision, the roadmap. That has its place. But someone lying awake at three in the morning doesn’t need a five-year plan. They need a kind light that says: you can walk this far. No further. And that’s enough.
Maybe you’re standing at a long, dark street right now too. Then don’t look all the way to the end. Look as far as the next streetlight.
Three questions to keep thinking. Choose an answer – you will then get an explanation and a prompt for self-reflection.
What keeps you going when things are hard?
Thank you. Every answer fits – take it with you into your day. Would you like to share something yourself?
