Anything worth achieving is worth working for and the loftier the goal, the harder the journey is to reach it. This tends to be a mindset that is overlooked in our modern society, one in which we have so many technological advances at our collective fingertips to make our lives easier. The downside of all of this “technological betterment” is that we, collectively, have begun to discount hard work. “The easy way” is an all encompassing ideology that we have begun to adopt. If we don’t get our results quickly, and with the utmost haste, we abandon our quest and accept that it’s not meant to be. Exercise, academics, occupational advancement, it doesn’t matter what the goal is it’s all the same journey.

Rather than obsessing over the finer details of the journey, nitpicking over the minor details, it is paramount that you simplify the process. It’s all about progress. You make a note of where you’re starting, the beginning of your process, and you move forward. It doesn’t matter if it’s a centimeter, a yard, or a mile. Moving forward is all that matters. Period. End of story. As long as you are making forward progress, no matter how mind numbingly slow the process is, it is still progress. You have to treat the situation as a war of attrition. You’re not going to achieve your goals quickly, especially if they are lofty goals. If you want to get better, you have to work for it.

Granted this is all easier said than done. It is tempting to sit back and ruminate on how slowly you are going, especially when you know others who are succeeding faster than you are. It doesn’t matter. All that matters is, that at the end of the day, you look back and see how far you have come in the long run. Granted there will be those around you that have surpassed you in a quicker time, but it doesn’t matter. If anything, this will make your success all the sweeter, because you had to work harder for it. You had to push yourself harder, and for longer periods of time, then your peers did, and this will make all the difference.

Making the conscious decision to set your teeth, plant your feet, and keep moving forward is an experience that everyone should go through in their lifetime. It makes you appreciate all that you have worked for, and it will make your resounding rewards all the better because you worked for them. They weren’t given to you, and you didn’t come by them easily, you had to fight the despair and push through all of the boundaries others tried to put in front of you. That makes the rewards all the sweeter.