At 211º F, water is just water.

At 212º F, it will power a locomotive.

Just a 1º shift.

It’s the New Year. It’s snazzy to talk about everything you’re going to do be and have. Your BHAGs. Your Big Hairy Audacious Goals.

I like BHAGs. I like audacious.

And yet, as a distance runner and high-altitude mountaineer, I know that races are won one stride at a time; mountains are climbed one step at a time.

You’ll write your book one page at a time; create your program one block at a time; train for your first 10k one day at a time; craft your resume one line at a time.

Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “You don’t need to see the whole staircase. Just take the first step in faith.”

Oh sure, create a BHAG if you want to.

But never forget the power of just 1º. That can be enough.