Big problems don't go away, we shrink them

​A couple of weeks ago, I ran a marathon. (And here you thought you were done hearing about that 🤷‍♂️). But after our first mile, I told my friend Tiffany - we only have to do what we just did 25 more times.

Then, after mile 2, I told her, we only have to do what we just did 13 more times.

And after mile 3 - only 9 more times.

You get the picture.

The whole time I was trying to remind her that our problem wasn't as big as it was when we started.

Mel Robbins says, "we all make the fundamental mistake of believing that because your problems are too big, the solution must be big."

Running has taught me that many of the things we see as big problems in our life are only big because we see them that way.

Big is often a mindset.

Running a marathon used to be a really big problem in my mind. It seemed impossible. For years I wouldn't even think about running one - a marathon was small enough for a runner to run; it was much too big for me to take on.

Then one day I ran a few miles. Then I ran 8. And then I was spending my Saturdays running double digit miles. Sure, I was developing the physical capacity to run a marathon, but more than that, an impossible problem started feeling very solvable.

When we take a small step into the impossible, each step makes the impossible feel more doable.

I've come to know there were a lot of areas in my life where I was stuck. But here is what I've also come to know; stuck was a way of seeing my life, it wasn't a truth about my life.

Getting unstuck in life isn't about seeing the size of your problems shrink, getting unstuck in life is about stepping into your problems with the intention of shrinking them. The magic in that, when you do it, you start to see the size of your problems shrink.

What you once had to do 25 more times, now you only have to do one more time. The problem didn't get smaller, you shrunk it.

If you have a problem that seems too big today, quit looking at it and take a step into shrinking it.

If you have a dream that seems to big today, quit looking at it and take a step into shrinking it.

A funny thing happened after I ran my first marathon years ago. I went on to tackle a 37-mile race. When I shrank the size of a marathon in my mind, the size of a lot of other races shrank in my mind.

Over the past couple of years, I've taken some steps into some pretty big challenges in my life. Those challenges and others haven't magically disappeared in my life, but I am shrinking them.

I still have mighty challenges, but I am marching into them - not staring at them while standing in quicksand.

Maybe you have big problems or big dreams in your life - they look impossible. Let me remind you - big problems don't go away and big dreams don't come true while we endlessly reflect on the magnitude of them.

They become overcomable and achievable when we shrink them. When we take a step into them. When we tell ourselves I once had to do that 25 more times - now 10 - now 1.

Until suddenly - that problem wasn't as big as I thought it was. It just needed me to take a step.

It's Monday. It's been a long holiday weekend. The week may feel more overwhelming than usual. Well I'm here to tell you - it's not, you just need to take a step.

Take just one step with one confident belief; I'm shrinking this sucker.