One of the greatest benefits of attempting extreme walking events, like the recent Step Into Action walk, is the depth of personal learnings I gain. These events for those who are involved can become a microcosm of life, throwing everything at you – pain, love, elation, frustration and everything in between.

While lessons learned during a walk like Step Into Action might seem simple or non consequential to real-life challenges, I believe that building resilience in a challenging but controlled environment like Step Into Action can make a significant difference in our learnings around personal growth, resilience, and ongoing happiness.

What 4 lessons did I take away from Step Into Action 2024 around Resilience

Lesson 1: Embracing the Reality

Step Into Action reinforced for me that life can be difficult and unpredictable. Even before the walk began, we were hit the previous 24 hours with the worst rainstorm in years, a test in having faith in the process before we even began.

The truth is, things won't always go our way. Challenges are inevitable. We all wish for a perfect world where everything unfolds flawlessly, but that's simply not reality. Accepting this makes a huge difference, both on the walk and in life when it comes to building resilience. Unfortunately, many people learn this the hard way.

My hope, through movements like Step Into Action, that young people can learn and internalise this lesson before facingb real life difficult experiences. Participating in events like Step into Action can be a powerful tool for building resilience in a safe controlled environment.

Lesson 2: Instantly Reassess: Is It Really a Problem?

The majority of the time, our worries are often self-exaggerated or imagined. I can personally attest to this, having fallen victim to these thoughts on the walk a few times. Every new ache or pain for me can often trigger my mind to jump to the worst conclusions, making me fear the walk will be over etc.

The key for me is to acknowledge these thoughts and if they are not a real problem, let them go fast! Mastering this skill, in my opinion, significantly boosts resilience and happiness. There is no value in focussing on concerns you have no control over or shouldn't be worried about.

Lesson 3: React: If It's a Real Problem, Address It Quickly.

In Step Into Action, for instance, the walkers faced a challenge about 11.00pm when most of the walkers including myself got caught out by the cold night and dew and many of our spare clothes such as socks laid out on the grass got damp rendering them useless to put on for the remainder of the night. At this stage I needed to try and sort out my remaining clothes fast and think of a way to keep them dry, frustrated this meant I had to stop for 10 minutes to do this properly and started to cramp badly as a result of the delayed stoppage.

Although this problem in retrospect is insignificant, the message learnt is the same and that is to address problems head-on and sort them out fast even if it involves a difficult process in real life. Don't let issues linger unnecessarily as this I believe is where the majority of our anxiety and stress often stems from (myself included!).

Lesson 4. Accept and Commit: If It's a Problem We Can't Fix, the Only Answer Around Maintaining Our Happiness Is to Commit to Moving Forward from It.

If it's a problem you can't fix, the only answer for maintaining happiness is to commit to moving forward from it. While challenging, I believe this skill can be life-changing.

In Step Into Action, this meant for me accepting a right foot full of uncontrollable blisters 18 hours into the walk. During a sock change at this time ( the only dry socks left), with swollen fingers in the cold night, I couldn't manage to dress the blisters properly and the only choice was to put on fresh socks and mentally commit to continue on them for the remaining 12 hours regardless of the pain.

If we can accept and commit to moving forward when major problems or issues arise, even if it means taking a detour, it allows us to find happiness and get back on our true path again. This prevents us from getting stuck, prolonging pain, and hindering ongoing happiness.

Building Resilience, One Step at a Time

While lessons learned during a walk like Step Into Action might be a small mirror compared to real-life challenges, I believe the practicing of a framework like this in a challenging but controlled environment can make a significant difference in our learnings around personal growth, resilience, and ongoing happiness.

Join the Movement!

Come join me in the Step Into Action movement at https://www.stepintoaction.com.au/

Together, we're building a community where shared stories, connection, and acts of resilience pave the way for a brighter tomorrow.