It’s easy to feel discouraged when you are chasing your dreams. You get trapped in comparison, you have periods where you just feel stagnant and you feel well and truly lost.
The best metaphor to use when it comes to defining success is running a marathon. When you finish a marathon, you feel this sense of triumph and you’re there before you know it. You have this moment where you look back and you remember every little push against resistance, every time you wanted to give up but you kept going even when all your muscles ached and every ounce of sweat that dripped off your face during training. You don’t get success through these big monumental milestones or the days you felt like working out, you get there through a series of moments – good and bad that all bring you one step closer to your goals. You feel like that time you turned up to the gym when you really didn’t want to be there didn’t mean much but it did – because you honoured a commitment to achieving your goal.
How much time do you give yourself credit for the small action you took today or are you discounting your efforts? Whether it’s practicing sketching on a random page in your notebook, watching a tutorial on how to use a new program or watching a Ted talk – each one of those seemingly small actions contribute to the end goal.
Give yourself some credit. You’re not perfect but you’re getting there. You’re honouring your commitment, you’re showing up, you’re making a move even if it isn’t a big move to you – it’s still something.
Not everyone has the courage to make their dreams a reality or achieve their goals. So whilst you sit there and critique yourself for not being ‘enough’, just pause. Take a moment to pat yourself on the back and give yourself credit that you’re making a commitment to creating your best self and being who you want to be. That takes balls, great big lady balls.
It may all seem insignificant, but trust me all these little things add up.
Recently, I started a new job that I’m wholeheartedly enjoying and I get to work in a cool creative co-working space with a meditation yurt (a circular tent used by nomads in Siberia and Mongolia) bang in the middle of it – yep, that’s right and it took me by surprise when I saw it!
Before this role I felt like I wasn’t progressing in my career or working hard which gave me anxiety. For the last year after graduating from university, I felt like I didn’t progress much in life, I worked roles I wasn’t 100% passionate about, I didn’t get why my former classmates were landing journalism roles so easily but each role taught me something valuable I needed whilst I kept up with my side hustle and creating digital media content in my spare time as my little hobby on the side and that significantly helped me land my new job.
Who would’ve thought all the hours I spent alone in my bedroom on my computer watching tutorials to learn how to edit videos and images, creating digital media content which I would constantly feel self doubt about and thought no one cared would end up landing me my first full time job at a really cool place in a role that feels fulfilling?
For years I thought my work would only matter if it was with a big name publication and then I found myself in a place where I the only thing going was my own little projects and they ended up opening more doors and gaining more recognition than a big name publication could have given me.
Don’t doubt your path, you’re on it for a reason and each step you take means something – keep walking and you’ll find out.
Espire21 