In the lives of aspiring creative entrepreneurs or anyone striving for personal growth, most of our time and effort is spent putting one foot in front of the other; taking steps each day towards reaching our desired goals. At times, this process feels long, tedious, and unfulfilling due to our tendency to hyper-focus on reaching those goals. We neglect the importance of all the small instrumental steps between now and our desired endpoint. It’s difficult being content with making small strides when the focus is heavily geared towards all the big hurdles left to overcome. It’s tough being content with our progress when unfairly comparing ourselves to others and losing sight of our personal accomplishments.
A lot of times, what makes things worth accomplishing is all the hardships that come along the way and the effort, determination, and willpower it took to reach that goal. When we’re babies first learning how to walk, we aren’t filled with judgment or frustration at our failed attempts. Each failed step builds strength, knowledge, and endurance and over time we’re confidently standing tall and have acquired all the necessary skills to take us from crawling to walking, then running!
Simply put,
Hardship Builds Character and life without some form of hardship is unrealistic.
We all experience pain, loss, or sorrow but, on the flip side, we also experience moments of love, joy, and happiness. Life isn’t a never-ending race of overcoming obstacles and we all desire an easy path at some point in our lives. Though progress may seem slow, understand that all the mugginess and discomfort we feel are all necessary folds of our story. Fighting the process doesn’t make it easier. It’s far more fruitful to assess our attempts as time well spent and learn how to measure oneself by the actions of yesterday rather than through the lens of what others are doing. By being consistent, you’re still further along today than you were last week, last month and last year.
The mindset behind hustle culture prevents us from noticing the progress we’ve made especially when the standards of measurement are skewed. The unfortunate truth is not all actions will lead to our desired goal or endpoint, but nonetheless, slow progress is still progress! Failure is not a scarlet letter to scrutinize yourself with. Failing is an opportunity to learn from past mistakes and try something new.
Once your mindset around failure starts to evolve, it will become easier to see slow progress as vital lessons needed to build your character. As you slowly progress in your endeavors, keep in mind that everything you’re doing and experiencing is working in your favor despite how things appear on the surface.
Slow progress is playing the long game; there are no short cuts. When things seem to be taking longer than it should, remember that there’s a steady transformation happening within that’s often unseen. It’s that same transformation that got you on your feet and guided you from crawling, walking, then running. Every small step counts! It all comes down to how you choose to react. Will you give up or see these trials as a learning experience that can be used to your advantage? Will you take notice of progress made in other areas of your life?
Do your best to find a happy medium and fill each day with some form of learning and application, while consistently making strides and recognizing your steady growth. Stay patient and enjoy the process. Slow and steady always wins the race.