You’re One Step Away (And You’re About to Quit)
You’re One Step Away (And You’re About to Quit)
Momentum is real. And it’s powerful.
Picture a snowball sitting at the top of a hill. Right now, it’s about the size of an orange. Not impressive. Not dangerous. Not capable of doing much of anything.
But start it rolling.
With every turn down the hill, it picks up more snow. It grows. It gains weight. It gains speed. And by the time it reaches the bottom, that once-harmless little snowball has turned into a wrecking ball the size of a Subaru; unstoppable, powerful, and impossible to ignore.
That’s how momentum works.
It doesn’t start loud.
It doesn’t start fast.
And it doesn’t start looking like much at all.
But it grows through non-stop, consistent action.
You are that snowball.
The Lie We Tell Ourselves
Some of you believe you can never become that wrecking ball.
You think it’s your genetics.
Your work schedule.
Your kids.
Your age.
Your past failures.
Or that you’re just “not that person.”
You are wrong.
Progress doesn’t belong to the most gifted, the most motivated, or the most confident. It belongs to the people who keep going when it feels slow, boring, or uncomfortable.
We all want the dramatic transformation. Drop five pounds of fat and gain three pounds of muscle every week. Wake up one day and suddenly feel confident, strong, disciplined, and “fixed.”
But that’s not how it works.
The process is simple—but it isn’t easy.
And that’s okay.
What Is Easy: Your Next Step
What is easy is your next step.
There’s a moment in the book The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse that captures this perfectly. The boy and the horse are standing in the woods.
“I can’t see a way through,” the boy says.
The horse replies,
“Can you see your next step?”
“Yes,” says the boy.
“Just take that.”
That’s it.
Not the whole path.
Not the final destination.
Not the version of yourself you wish you were already.
Just the next step.
Why We Quit Too Soon
Too often, we stare at the end goal and convince ourselves it’s too massive to ever accomplish. We measure ourselves against the finish line instead of where we are right now.
What we undervalue is the next step.
What we underestimate is the compounding effect of taking it, over and over again.
Momentum doesn’t care how motivated you feel. It cares how consistent you are.
Every workout you finish when you don’t feel like it.
Every meal you choose aligns with your goals.
Every night you show up when skipping would be easier.
Those are snowball rolls.
And they add up.
Finish What You Start
Momentum is fragile in the beginning. That’s why most people never experience it. They quit before it has a chance to build.
But if you stay in it longer than everyone else, something changes.
You stop needing motivation.
You stop questioning if it’s working.
You stop negotiating with yourself.
You become the person who just keeps going.
It might not be happening as fast as you’d like. That’s normal. But it is happening.
Keep doing the thing.
Keep taking the next step.
Keep the snowball rolling.
Because if you do this longer than everyone else, you’ll get results that no one else has.
And one day, you’ll look back and realize that wrecking ball didn’t come out of nowhere—it was built, one small roll at a time.
Nick Carignan
CrossFit 8 Mile
