HOW WILL YOU ACHIEVE YOUR GOALS THIS YEAR?

The easiest way that I've found to achieve BIG goals is to break them down into milestones.

When I began my quest to hike the Inca Trail, it seemed so far away and so out of my reach it was difficult to see myself actually achieving it. So I broke it down.

After all, it seemed crazy to think about hiking the Inca Trail when I could barely walk to the top of the hill in my village. But I knew that if I did the work, I could get there.

The first milestone was joining a 12km hike with an elevation gain of around 550-600m in Chefchouen, Morocco. I went with a great bunch of people and this turned out to be a major milestone both in terms of showing me what I was capable of as well as how much work I needed to do.

The next milestone was the mighty Jebel Musa mountain also in Morocco. Another 12km hike with an elevation gain of about 800m. I nearly bottled out of this one as it was advertised as being only for fit hikers - I didn't feel I was ready but knew that if I couldn't do this, then I couldn't expect to tackle the Inca Trail. So I vowed to get ready for it - and this was the best thing I could have done.

Then - a few weeks before the trail, I planned a really long hike of 25km on Dartmoor. I wanted to be confident I could cover distance as well as elevation gains. This was tough but once again it helped to increase my confidence.

The next milestones were hiking various volcanoes in Ecuador, taking me up to altitudes that were a new experience for me. The altitude was always going to be a challenge so I found some volcano hikes that went up to 3,300m, then 3,600m and then a whopping 4,850m. Once I'd done this, I knew I would be able to tackle the 4,200m Dead Woman's pass.

By the time I had done all of these, I knew that I should be able to handle the Inca Trail. And I was right! The confidence really helped and rather than struggle on the trail, as I imagined I would when I booked it several months beforehand, I really enjoyed every step of the way.

For my big goal of hiking Mt Kilimanjaro in February, I'm doing the same thing.

I began working with a personal trainer to increase my strength and leg muscles. Then resumed hiking.

First of all shorter hikes of 12km (12km seems short to me now!) with elevation gains of around 300 - 500m. After a while without much hiking, I was afraid I was starting from scratch but was surprised how quickly I progressed - much faster than I expected.

Then I planned longer hikes with larger and larger elevation gains over the next few weeks. Some of the biggest peaks around the south of Spain which are going to be challenging.

My final milestone is tackling the Mulhacen peak on Sierra Nevada (in the photo). This will only be around 12km again but with an elevation gain of around 1,330m and taking me up to an altitude of 3,479m. It's a winter ascent which requires a mountain guide and specialist equipment so will be a big challenge - but will really help with my final preparation for Kili.

I'm also roping in some hiking buddies - there is nothing like company and accountability! 🙂

Because I have a plan with gradual and logical steps, I'm confident that I can achieve my BIG goal. I just need to focus on one step at a time.

What are your BIG goals for 2022 and how can you break them down into manageable milestones?

#Atrévete

Picture of Mulhacen in winter courtesy of Trek Sierra Nevada who are taking me on the ascent of Mulhacen. For more details check them out here.

Love and hugs <3

#Atrévete!