Home / Learn / Spacing the rungs: why gaps of one or two
Spacing the rungs: why gaps of one or two
A ladder with a five-point jump in it is not a ladder. How to find the holes and what to put in them.
A hierarchy fails in a predictable way. The first three rungs get done, the fourth one is rated a 4, the fifth is rated a 9, and the plan stops there. Nothing was wrong with the person's effort; there was a missing rung.
The rule of thumb
Consecutive rungs should differ by about one or two points. Three is a stretch. Anything more than three is a hole, and the person will feel it as a wall rather than a step.
Finding the holes
Sort the ladder by rating and read down the gaps. Include the gap from zero to the first rung: a ladder that starts at 6 has no bottom, which is the same problem in a less obvious place.
Filling them
There are only a handful of dials, and turning any one of them down usually manufactures the missing rung: do it for less time, do it with someone there, do it somewhere more familiar, do it at a quieter hour, do it once rather than repeatedly, or imagine it in detail first. Take the rung above the hole, turn one dial down, and re-rate.
Turning a dial down is not cheating and it is not a smaller version of the same practice. It is the practice, at an intensity that can be finished.
A ladder needs all three bands
Count how many rungs fall in 0 to 3, 4 to 6 and 7 to 10. All easy and nothing changes. All hard and nothing gets started. A workable ladder has a few of each, and the top rung is the goal itself.
Build the ladder
Name the fear and Bia suggests the rungs. Free, and nothing about you is sent.