I am not sure when I first heard that quote, or even who first said it, but I do know that over the years, few statements have proven to be more true than the above. Paraphrased, I have found it to mean that when a task or goal seems too overwhelming, breaking it down into small, bite-sized pieces makes the whole thing much more “do-able,” and, if approached properly, always leads you to the finish line. The trick is to keep those inches coming.
My most recent example is my own 401k. A decade ago, I woke up one day and realized the balance in my 401k was zero. Literally zero, I had no money in it at all. I was facing retirement not too far down the road and a zero balance in my 401k meant there would be no retirement. Something had to be done and I committed to doing everything I possibly could to at least create the possibility of a retirement down the road. Calculating what I would need in order to retire, quickly sent me into a state of depression. The yardage was great, the money was barely an inch. But I started and I persevered.
I invested slowly, simply because that is all I could afford, and the balance soon grew to look, well, pretty depressing. However, each year I contributed a little more, I chose my investments with just a little more research and after almost ten years of learning and growing, it soon might just be possible to retire. I will need to keep at it and never stop. By the yard, the task seemed almost impossible, by the inch, sure enough, I am well on the road to retirement. It was and is, not a cinch, but it is much easier than it was ten years ago.
In the middle of my career, when my children were young and career advancement was essential, I discovered that I needed to obtain a Master’s degree in order to advance in my company and be more qualified for positions outside of that company, if that was ever needed. I chose a program that involved a commute of over 50 miles, one way, three days a week. (There was no such thing as online learning back then.) The program would last 3 years, involved the writing of a dissertation in order to graduate, and had to be completed while I was working full-time and traveling quite a bit for my company. Talk about tough yardage.
At our orientation meeting, our adviser stated that he had discovered, that if the same people started together, took the same classes together and bonded as a team, then his experience had taught him that almost every single person would graduate. He also stated that after a year in the program, if you had not quit, odds were strong that you would make it; because you had already invested so much time and effort into it. I also had a lot invested because my company would pay for my degree, if I obtained at least a “B” in each course, and also graduated.
So I buckled down, took each course that I had to, approached each assignment and each day as its own goal and inch by inch, course by course, I got closer. My adviser had been correct, our team of people stayed together, we helped and supported each other in the tough times and all but one of us graduated……exactly as he had predicted. My education was paid for by my company, and really by family as well, because I spent so much time away from them. But the investment paid off. My Master’s degree paid off many times over, as I ultimately left that company during an acquisition and found jobs when I needed to, many directly as a result of that Master’s degree. (Or at least, that is what the recruiters told me.) That degree was very hard by the yard, but in the end, a cinch by the inch.
In a little over a month, I will be married to my wonderful wife for four decades. We really have known each other for longer than that, as we met in our freshman year of college. Looking back on those now, over 4 decades, I understand how two lives can be built together slowly, often surprisingly, one day at a time. Much like two trees planted near each other that grow and intertwine over the years, we, too have become one. Just the other day, we were ordering dinner at our favorite diner and once again, without planning, ordered exactly the same thing. This happens almost every time we go out for a meal. I remember my parents talking about that same thing many years ago when I was young and I always laughed….saying to myself that would never happen to us….but it did.
Our lives, inch by inch, became one. We did the same things, shared the same experiences, went to the same places, watched the same shows and movies. The trees grew closer day by day and so did we. Once yards apart, they are now joined by their branches and roots, rising together toward the sky. By the yard, it was hard, but day by day, inch by inch, it really was a cinch. I could not imagine it any other way.
And so, when a task seems so terrible, a goal appears too far away, remember that by the yard, it really is very, very hard, but by the inch, it truly is a cinch. The trick, of course, is to keep piling up those inches, never quit, never take your eyes off of that task in front of you, and one fine day, you will look up from your task, look back at all that you have accomplished and say to yourself that your goal is now just around the corner. I know that it works, I have used that approach many, many times and I can truly say that there is nothing you cannot accomplish in life; if you always remember that one day at a time, one task at a time, one course at a time will yield you an incredible bounty of yards that you never dreamed you could achieve. Enjoy those inches along the way because are those inches are,in fact, the days of your life. And it is the inches of life that, day by day, equals a lifetime. A lifetime of inches has now grown to become yards and yards of memories. It really is that easy. By the inch, it is a cinch!