The Tour de France, and the value of big mountains.

Last Sunday, I stood by the side of the Seine here in Paris, and watched the Tour de France riders whizzing by, on their final laps before the sprint up the Champs-Elysées. I watched men and women who'd biked over 2,000 miles, up and down mountains, through tiny towns and big cities, finally reaching their goal — the finish line.

They were dramatic, inspiring. Exhausted, but unbroken.

I thought about the times we reach our big goals - how it's always a little different than we imagine. Richer and more exhausting. About how, when we look back, the journey was just as rewarding as the finish, sometimes more so. Nobody sets goals with the journey in mind, but really, it's the part that matters. Those daily steps. The ways we change, grow, and become someone more than we were. That, to me, is the inspiration for doing it.

I find myself, too, at the end of one journey, and the start of another.

I've finished making my next two-year life plan (going through the masterclass, of course), and now I'm starting this new life — working on Ink and Feet full-time, leaping off and having the faith that the things I write and make can pay my way through the world, letting me travel deeply, tell stories that matter, and help us all get to our most authentic lives.

I'm excited and inspired. My eyes now are focused on a new mountain, off in the distance. One I'll climb, and in the course of the next two years, one that will challenge me, change me, and make me grow. A mountain that will turn me into a better me.

I'm so glad to have you along on my journey, and to be a small part, every Sunday, of yours. :)

-Steven.

p.s. The best thing I read all week was this powerful, hopeful, and heartbreaking story about a journey across the Darién Gap - the roadless jungle that separates North and South America.