On June 5th 1920, Congress authorized the Secretary of War to erect a monument in the capital to be designed “from which all distances of places throughout the continent were to be calculated.” This milestone was officially put into place in 1923 and still stands today. It is called the Zero Milestone and it was supposed to stand right at the Washington meridian. Unfortunately, the Jefferson Stone is in that exact spot, so the milestone is currently just south of the White House and at the North Edge of President’s Park. The coordinates are: 38°53′42.38736″N 77°02′11.57299″W. Yes, you can look it up on Google Earth.
The inspiration for this was from the ancient roman Golden Milestone which indicated the center of the Roman Empire. All mile markers along highways in Rome, derived their distance from this point. Some of those mile markers are still left (there is an entire society dedicated to their preservation), but the Golden Milestone has long since been lost. Probably buried in a plot in some ancient Germanic Warlords tomb. Anyway, this is where we got the concept of a milestone from. The original milestones all originated from the center, or the zero location.
In case you are wondering, only roads in D.C. actually count their distance from the zero spot. The highway builders gave up on this notion very quickly. You might be wondering why the Secretary of War would have this responsibility? Well, consider the time. Shortly after WW1, we say what happens when a country has poor infrastructure and road conditions. Lack of mobility creates supply chain problems. If a country ever invaded us, they would have a serious problem on their hands. We have Interstate 10, 40, 80 and they can be used to truck soldiers, supplies, equipment and also serve as a landing field in a pinch. This project was started in 1923 and finished by Dwight Eisenhower. We are still paying that debt back! Stop and think about it however, what have the highway systems done for commerce and industry in the U.S? Probably worth the investment.
Anyway, back to the Zero Milestone. I created one, it was running a Marathon. I picked that because I hated running, and it just seemed like the best milestone from a personal health perspective. I also picked a time to finish in, which was a really difficult stretch for me. So my Zero Milestone is going to be the Marathon that I am running in 14 days from now. I will gauge all my future success, and measure my progress from this ground zero. I plan to accomplish much more with my new found habit keeping machine that I have built, but the Marathon is the first major milestone.
As I think about that, I realize how important it is to have such a milestone in our lives. The starting point. The place where your journey begins. Well San Diego, CA at the end of a 26.2 mile run is not where my run ends, but rather where the new vision for myself begins. Over a year ago, when I created this zero milestone event in my mind, I created a visualization behind it and now everything that I am working toward is designed to produce that vision. I have already queued up the next mile marker, and the next. I know where this road is going to lead, but in 2 weeks, I actually start the journey.
I would encourage setting your Zero Milestone. From what point are you going to measure all your future success. What point are you going to consider the start to your new life. That is the center of your new found inspiration. Does not have to be a marathon, does not even have to be a physical activity. However, it should be something and it should be significant. It should be one of the hardest things you have ever done in your life. Are you ready to commission a monument to your future life?
Guy Reams
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