The Space Between

“Success is the sum of all small efforts, repeated day in and day out” – Robert Callier

Often times I hear a lot of acclamations from two groups of people. The determined, highly optimistic group of people who just thought of an idea, made a commitment or resolution or looking for a change. “I’m going to do this”. “I’ll graduate with Honors”. “I’m going to get a Ph.D.”. The list goes on. The other group is those who’ve actually been through the process and succeeded. “I have a Ph.D.”. “I graduated with Honors”. Again, the list goes on. But hardly do you hear people talk about the space between the start of the commitment (I’m going to graduate with Honors) and its realization (I graduated with Honors).

I always find it fascinating when I attend programs and the guests are being introduced. “Dr. ABC has a Ph.D. in Neurobiology and an MBA in Business Management and President of XYZ Company etc etc”… all in one minute. What? That person’s perhaps 20 years of work is crammed into two sentences! How ‘easy’ of an accomplishment it sounds until you consider the amount of work in-between. And most of the time, the person wouldn’t talk about it either. Why so?

[Because] it’s a painful, grueling, process that often times makes you question why you’re even doing this. I bet most, if not all of us, are in-between that space and wonder if all of these sacrifices is, or will be, worth it. Those who’ve succeeded don’t want to talk about it, and those on the journey had no idea how much work it takes. Sometimes we’re deceived by the brevity of some statements and assume the commitment needed for it will also be brief haha. The space between “I’m going to do it”… and… “I did it”…is no joke. It could cost you your social life, take you away from friends and family or drain every ounce of hard work you’ve got. Do you choose to give up in the middle or fight on?

We have to recognize that being successful in anything requires more than a commitment. We have to be ready to put in every day’s worth of hard work. You may be going to ‘hell’, but you have to keep going. You’re always closer than you think. And when you get to the other side, you’ll be so proud of yourself

Dearest,

Will