Sometimes the only thing you can do is start. Take the first step. Step again. And then again, taking the next right step for you.

The only way to crush the overwhelm we all experience when we face a challenge or opportunity is to find a place to start, and that’s why we’re here.

But let’s be honest: Simply starting is far from simple. You need to break big tasks into tiny chunks. And each chunk — or step, as we call it — requires enough time for meaningful conversations and intentional decision-making.

Yet time is a fleeting and precious commodity, and sometimes, you just need to get it done. So as we considered how many steps to create, the significance of the number 40 became apparent.

For example:

• In Christian faith traditions, the number 40 appears over 150 times in the Old and the New Testaments of the Bible, often symbolizing a period of testing, trials and transformation.
• The number also plays a prominent role in many other faith traditions, including Hinduism and Buddhism, among others.
• We even found significance for the number in science, numerology, mathematics — and is it a coincidence that a pregnancy is 40 weeks, a traditional workweek is 40 hours, or the game of Monopoly has 40 squares? We think not!