put one foot in front of the other

[unpakwon]

Could anyone please explain what the following sentence in bold means?

This sentiment of Woodrow Wilson's reminds me of a wonderful memoir written by Katharine Meyer Graham, former publisher of the Washington Post. Following her husband's tragic suicide, Graham assumed respponsibility for the newspaper. She never expected to do that, and she described her initial feelings as "pretty much putting one foot in front of the other and shutting my eyes, and stepping off the edge." Yet as she went along, she started to throw herself into it.

Thank you.

 

[Anglika]

She was faced with a totally new experience and role, for which she had no background or training. So in order to do her work, she metaphorically puts one foot in front of the other - did things very slowly, carefully and cautiously. At the same time, she launches herself into the new role - "shutting her eyes and stepping off the edge".

 

[unpakwon]

I see. Thank you for the help.