This is a problem because these montages, from classic
movies which we’re all likely to have seen, teach us that real-life success is
supposed to come as quickly as it does in the movies. When it inevitably
doesn’t, it can be discouraging, as is often the case when we’re taught to
expect one thing and something else happens instead.
These movies also fail our expectations when they show
training to be an exciting event. Training is probably going to be boring, and
it’s definitely going to be hard.
Good.
No one is cheering you on when you’re learning HTML at night
after a full day of work.
No one is there to pick you up when you stumble during a
practice drill that’s lit by moonlight.
No one is there when you’re combing through the 2000-page
textbook trying to find the specific sub-section of the tax code you’re looking
for.
When you finally build that app, or throw that game-winning
pass, or get that Big Four job, those are the moments of glory, and they should
be savoured. These are the peaks of life, and they are separated by incredibly
long valleys.
The valleys aren’t meant to be “troughs”—they’re not bad,
they’re just necessary. Most of your life will probably be spent becoming good
at something. You might not be passionate about that thing for the first few
weeks or months, but you keep at it. You know your work in the valleys will pay
off.
So enjoy the challenge, and await the mountains.
Hey, thanks for reading. This post was inspired by this
Zen Pencils comic and a conversation with a good friend. Sorry if this post
isn’t as good as the others, but the idea of enjoying the process felt like it
was an idea worth sharing (and TED hasn’t asked me to do a talk yet). Besides
that, I have 2-3 other posts that went unpublished and I didn’t want to make a
habit out of it. Anyway, constructive criticism appreciated.
