I was on a camping trip in the Grand Canyon many years ago with a good friend of mine. One of the interesting things about hiking their is that unlike many others, the climb comes at the end of the hike, instead of the beginning.

I remember climbing our way up the rim, after hiking for 6 days, and that it seemed like it took forever. We'd look ahead and be sure we were nearing the top, only to come to a turn and realize that the end was still far, far away.

This happened over and over again - for hours.

At one point, we turned around, and we were stunned. There we were, staring at the enormity of the Grand Canyon, with the same views as we had on our way down. When we were looking ahead, slowly climbing, and gauging our progress by looking forward, it seemed like we weren't making any progress at all.

It was only when we took a moment to turn around, and look back, that we realized how far we had actually come.

I think about this with business too. You often hear people telling you not to dwell on the past and to focus on what's ahead of you. Don't dwell on failures, pick yourself up, learn more, make more, ship more, etc.

But too often we get so caught up in focusing on where we want to be, that we forget how far we've already come.

Sometimes, the only way to tell if we're moving forward is to stop and look back.