You Cannot Sprint Your Way to Success

How long are you willing to do what you love even if no one pays attention to it?

The process of progress is a challenging one. We say we understand that until we have to experience it. Yet, these growing pains are necessary.

Where we screw up is when we expect progress to look like a 40-yard dash. Just a quick burst of speed, and I’ll be rich and famous in no time. But you’re only deceiving yourself.

You cannot sprint your way to success. You were never meant to do that.

Instead, you are meant to take small, challenging steps that stretch you while giving you an appreciation for the opportunity to create anything at all.

Here’s the funny thing, though: When we harness the power of gratitude, we’d see the value of life anyway. We’d see that everyone is on their own journey to their desired destinations.

That’s what causes us to slow down and focus on what matters. That’s what makes every creative step worthwhile.

Consistency Is Your Best Friend Forever

Small steps allow you to move toward your goals at your pace. Looking at where other people are doesn’t help. It just encourages the negative effects of comparison that keep us stuck.

No, you need movement. But that movement must include intentional actions in the right direction.

Your daily activities point to something. It is your aspirations and dreams that get you out of bed and out the front door in the mornings.

If you want to be a writer, don’t expect to be an Ernest Hemingway by the end of the day. You are who you are. Spend time cultivating your passion, but don’t forget that you have your own identity apart from those you look up to. That means your habits will not be the same.

Your heroes may have written for 30 minutes a day. But you may write for three hours. That’s the beauty of our world—the people in it are wired to create differently and still be effective.

In other words, this isn’t a race to the top (at least, it shouldn’t be). Yet, we visualize life in that way. There is no perfect path, no one-size-fits-all set of rules we all must follow.

It’s just you and the decision to show up consistently no matter what the stats say.

Small Wins Matter Too

Think about it this way: You’re better off correcting missteps if your steps are small than if your steps are gigantic leaps of the most radical kind. Sure, others might be farther along than you. That’s okay. Don’t think of life as a competition. It’s not even a marathon.

It’s you running on a given path that suits you best.

What I’ve learned is that you have to put your blinders on if you want to appreciate your growth, as little as it seems. The small wins matter too.

Most people don’t take time to value the little accomplishments because they’re too busy drilling over someone else’s “major” win. But you undermine your progress when you do that.

Some of the most revered and respected people understood that success isn’t an overnight process. It takes a desire to be consistent.

You can’t take three years away from running and think you can jump back in where you left off. If you try that, you’ll just end up hurting yourself. What you have to do instead is ease back into it.

The greedy will tell you to suck up the pain and push yourself to the point of death—that’s when you know you’re about to hit the jackpot. But what they leave out is the harmful trade that happens while you relish in the sweat and lightheadedness of “hard work.”

You give away peace of mind for what you think success looks like.

Your sanity is much more important than the attention your work gets. So intentionally depriving yourself of sleep to please people doesn’t make you productive, it makes you a gullible lightweight.

How to Set Yourself Apart from the Rest

Two questions set posers apart from lovers of the most important thing in their lives:

• How long are you willing to do what you love?
• How long are you willing to do what you love even if no one pays attention to it?

The first question is easier to answer than the second. We would love to do what we love for the rest of our lives. But if no one cares for three years, only the real ones remain.

I’m not going to pretend like it won’t hurt now and then to see your work fall flat. It’s human to feel empty because your creation seems to launch from your desk and land in the same spot. You put your heart and soul into your work—the least thing people can do is see it for what it is.

But the glass is neither half-full nor half-empty. It has water in it.

The simple fact that you have something in your cup should make all the difference in the world. Forget about the overflow in someone else’s. You’ll get there eventually. Until then, appreciate the little things and keep moving.

Make Your Days Count

Gratitude brings us back to the mindset we should have at all times. We overthink everything because we allow ourselves to. Yet, small steps can take their rightful place when we harness gratitude every moment we get the chance to create something we love.

Success is sometimes defined in an unhealthy way by people who have an unhealthy perception of what it must look like.

But before you emulate your role-models, try this: Look at how long it took them to get where they are today. Then identify their habits. What do they do on a daily basis that improves their lives?

What I’ve found, and what you’ll find as well, is that what works for one doesn’t work for all. You have to find out what works for yourself. That means actually doing the work we say we love so much. Or it means coming to terms with the fact that this isn’t what you really love.

No matter what it is, don’t focus on the amount of time it will take you to reach your destination. Focus on the process of it all, each step along the way.

As Muhammad Ali said:

“Don’t count the days, make the days count.”

The important thing to remember is that life isn’t just full of verbs. It’s also full of meaning. Your task is to find out what that is.

That’s when you find the purpose behind every little step you take. It’s when you see success, not as a sprint, but as a personal trail you pace yourself on.

Kevin Horton is a photographer, student, modest book-worm, and future web developer with a new-found love for writing. He writes helpful words about creativity, productivity, and the enjoyably simple life.

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