“The two most powerful warriors are patience and time.” – Leo Tolstoy
Picture yourself standing directly in front of a huge boulder with a football field worth of green grass ahead of you. As you grip your feet into the soft grass and extend your arms to the boulder, you then tense all muscles ready for the first burst of energy to try and move the boulder forward. The first push, little to no movement. The second push, maybe an inch worth of the boulder budging. Digging in for another push with the muscles starting to fatigue, each push gives just a little more progress forward, all while also learning a little more on how to be more successful on the next push.
As time progresses, if one is willing to stick with this process of making progress in very short increments, momentum starts to form. A push of a couple inches turns into the boulder starting to roll just a little extra each time. The couple of inches soon becomes a couple of feet. Once that little bit of momentum of the boulder rolling gets going, now you start to see big gains. These moments of progress of an inch turn into moments of becoming an unstoppable force speeding ahead to distances you’ve never experienced before.
That big boulder looks like a lot of the bigger challenges we take on in various aspects of our lives. Getting started on a workout plan yields minimal results in the beginning and can be exhausting getting momentum going. Starting a new job can feel like a start back to the beginning of learning and gathering as much knowledge as possible but having slow success connecting dots in the beginning. Or on a more serious challenge, facing a health scare that requires a tough journey ahead to get back on track to a healthy life.
When the progress forward is in inches, the mind will start questioning if it’s worth it. With little progress coming from such a large investment of time and energy, the mind will gladly open the path for comfort to give up on the challenge. The part that is so easily dismissed is as you’re making progress in inches, the bursts of momentum will be coming. It may not be here yet but with patience and time (and sticking to what you set out to do), it will happen.
The easy path is letting the slow-moving boulder lie still and never digging your heels in again ready to push it one more time. And then another. And another. These challenges you face are difficult but they’re what you’re capable of handling. You can refuse to let small and slow progress be the reason you quit. You can tap into the powerful warriors of patience and time to keep moving the boulder forward little by little and find that once that momentum picks up, then picks up a little more, and then a little more, it will become an unstoppable force.
Take your step: reflect on a part of your life where you are striving for a better tomorrow but feel the progress is slowly draining you. Tap into the power of perspective. Understand what is important in life is not quick hit opportunities. It’s sticking with what you’ve set out to do by understanding the powerful warriors of patience and time are part of equation to long-lasting success. Continue to remind yourself the momentum is coming, and if patience and time are part of the equation, that momentum will help turn you into an unstoppable force striving for your better tomorrow.