Invisible Effort is Essential

We all have dreams and aspirations that we wish to achieve in our lifetime. However, it can be incredibly easy to lose sight of the present moment while chasing them.

This is a reminder I had to give myself this past week. As much as I want everything to happen right now, I need to remember that this is a marathon, not a sprint. While trying to re-invent my career life, I’ve became so focused on the small details that I started to lose sight of the big picture.

Meeting my basic needs is an absolute must. Knowing that I have enough money to sustain myself during this transition is absolutely key for me. As soon as my funds start to dwindle, I will be forced to accept jobs that I do not want to do and could de-rail me from my current path. This is not to say that by meeting my basic needs, I will only be doing jobs that I enjoy, but rather that by being strategic and knowing how much money I need to keep myself afloat in the long term, I can maintain a more stable state and focus my mind on things other than my financial situation.

I haven't been able to spend as much time on this email as I previously have. Part of this is because I'm becoming impatient with my situation. Only in the last year or so, I have started to think really long term career wise - 5/10 years ahead. This has definitely become overwhelming at times, especially because at the beginning the train picks up speed very slowly.

I am very used to just being in the mindset of - I get a job, go do the job, get paid - finished. But my reality now is working towards something bigger (while nothing is really happening to begin with), building a solid foundation (that you only notice when it is not there), and all the effort I put in will only show a lot later down the line.

A decent metaphor for this is say you have an Ice cube that you want to melt and you do not have a thermometer. The ice only starts melting after reaching 0 degrees.

Suppose the ice cube is in a room at a temperature of -30 degrees. You try to warm up the room, and it takes you several days to do so. On the second day, the temperature rises to -20, and then to -10 on the third day. Despite your efforts, the ice cube remains stubbornly frozen, and you begin to feel discouraged. However, on the fourth day, the temperature rises to 0, and then to 1, 2, and so on. Suddenly, the ice cube starts to melt, and within a few hours, it has completely melted. It took three days of effort with no visible progression to achieve the goal.

Reminding myself of the big picture certainly helps me remember this. It's important to note that much of the initial effort can be completely invisible, yet it is possibly the most critical part of the process.

A couple of reminders for the week.

Lots of love,

Koko 🙂