I have a hard time trusting the process.

I, like many others, want immediate results.

Its so easy for me to get discouraged thinking how long it will take to reach the “end result”. Be it as simple as homework, college degree, a relationship, a new deadlift PR,  or “success” it self.

Most goals worth pursuing take TIME. a lot of it.

Honestly, I get straight up jealous when I see people doing or being the type of person I want to be. But I know for a fact I don’t know how long it took them to get to where they are and what they did to get there. Regardless of age.

Its all relative and unique to every person.This is why you have to celebrate the tiny victories and mini-goals. And most of all enjoy the ride.

For me, my college experience is a perfect example.

For one, I flip flopped majors like a candidate on political issues. Originally I thought I’d go photo video. Then I went “business” and had no drive to actually attend classes until about my third year. This is for 2 reasons. I decided I wanted to pursue Finance and I finally realized I was going to be stuck in community college while all my friends who went to traditional 4 year schools were going to come out with degrees while I was still figuring out my path. Which ultimately was no different or special compared to anyone else and just took longer.

After 3 years of community college I expedited my college “career” by taking summer classes. It took me 5 years all in all for a BBA in Finance from Temple University.

During that extra year my friends were already applying for jobs and working. I was still finishing up. I was so stressed thinking I was going to be so behind. I had to really focus on the long term to stay cool.

As silly as it seems now, that last year of school felt like forever. I had to focus on mini goals. I reverse engineered the end goal (graduating), into semesters and classes. I acknowledged each passing of a test as one step closer and a mini goal accomplished. As you appreciate more and more the smaller steps, you enjoy the process more. And all goals are about the process, the things that you did to get where you want to be, not the goal itself.

Now I do that with everything. Long term goals are great but I try to keep them within 3 months (90 days). Life changes so much and so often that your goals will too.

Set the goal. Reverse engineer. Celebrate the mini successes. Enjoy the process.

gunn

10 25 2017