I’m writing a book (I’ve also already started the next one and, if I’m honest, the one after that as well), juggling a community (which has rocketed in the last year), prepping for online talks and getting ready to launch a new podcast….all while getting used to being a mum to a 6-month-old.

How the hell do you do it?

When I get asked this I instinctively feel a bit embarrassed about all my projects (which I hate – I should just feel proud, right?). And about the fact that (although I absolutely do have days and weeks where I find myself sobbing in the bath, eating my body weight in chocolate while I contemplate that it’s all too much), generally, I feel like I’m on top of things.

Harri, my new mum friend, recently asked me if my adventures perhaps helped me to have such a positive birth. I’d never thought about it before! I didn’t feel like it had but reflecting on the question made me realise that, actually, maybe my adventures are exactly why I’m able to make a success of my projects. Or, more to the point, how I’m able to confidently juggle so much.

Full disclosure, because you know I love a privilege check!

I wanted to make one thing clear that often people over-look. All these ‘projects’ are my job (or mostly my job – sometimes they are hobbies that cross-over). So that naturally gives me more time and headspace to work on them.

Also, I co-parent and am lucky to have a husband who is very much on board with this. Gil works 3 days a week and I work 2 (or more like 4 at the moment with the book deadline looming).

And we really do split all the responsibilities. He makes an effort to make decisions and be confident as a farther (his weakness), and I make an effort to not try insist I know best or that my way is the right way when it comes to the baby (my weakness). Sure, I’m solely in charge of breastfeeding, but apart from that, I hope we can be an example that you can have equal parenting.

I wouldn’t be able to do all my projects without these 2 factors. However…I do think it’s more than that…

Hiking the length of Israel

So my first big adventure was hiking the length of Israel, which the book I’m writing now is about. At the time it was the biggest thing I’d ever done. A huge task. Impossible. So big and out of my comfort zone, I was sure I would never complete it.

Even while I was hiking, which I really wasn’t enjoying for a lot of the time (I feel like I shouldn’t admit that as an ‘adventurer’ but it’s true – it was definitely Type 2 fun for a lot of the way), I was sure there was no way I could finish the full trek. I wasn’t experienced enough. And I definitely hadn’t done enough training to get my chubby bum 1000kms.

But – spoiler alert – I did complete it.

The incredible power of small insignificant steps

There were lots I learnt on the trail, but one thing that really did serve me well was the knowledge in knowing, in experience, that small steps accumulate to make a big difference. I completed the hike by simply taking a lot of (very painful, hot, and often whiny) steps in the right directions.

I remember when I launched Love Her Wild and how excited I was when we passed 100 members. Now 3.5 years on we’ve passed 25,000 members across our national and regional groups. Whoa! How did that happen? Well….it wasn’t one thing. It was a combination of a lot of little things – running adventures, writing blogs, doing interviews, going to events, engaging with others online, etc – that all added up to make something significant. I just kept chipping away at it, trying to do something every day. Even if it was something as simple as sending an email or scheduling some posts.

It’s the same approach I take with everything I do in my life. From building my blog to over 25,000 readers a month. To completing a particular tough expedition (hello, Arctic!).

Big tasks overwhelm us all. Like the thought of writing a book! Which is why so many start with enthusiasm, do a load of work, then let that project sit, forgotten about for years to come. You start to feel like you are making no progress. You’ll never get there. It’s not going to be successful.

But that doesn’t happen with me anymore because I live with absolute certainty that if I work on things – anything that I want in my life – consistently (and efficiently) then they will, eventually, lead to success.

I’ve just got to keep taking steps. In the right direction. A bit each day.

Going on an adventure taught me that!

Are you taking steps in the right direction?

Follow me on Facebook, Instagram and subscribe to my YouTube channel. *Any women reading this?* I founded a women’s adventure community called Love Her Wild. Check out our private Facebook page and see what adventures we have coming up.