When civil engineers start constructing a large structure, they will first start from the foundation. The foundation may go many feet down. People may not see the progress at the point, but the deeper the foundation goes, the better it will be to support a high-rising building. When the foundation is done and the blocks are being laid for the visible structure, one may think that it is then that the building starts. However, progress was actually made before it got to that point. In the same way in life, there are times that it may look like the progress you are making is invisible, but the truth is that it is real. That no one sees it does not invalidate it. There are times that you will need to pass through this silent phase of your life in order to achieve loud success.
If you plant a seed of corn for example, within the first few days, it would look like nothing is happening to the seed. But in the real sense, germination is actually being initiated inside the soil. After a few days, you will begin to see tiny sprouts. The days that you could not see anything about the seed does not mean that nothing was happening. In fact, those times, progress was made but it was not just visible, but was real. Imagine if a farmer starts to dig through the seeds that he had planted because he could not see germination immediately, or because he is in doubt, he would end up destroying the growth of the seeds. You will be surprised how a lot of people quit too soon because they cannot see what is actually happening under the surface of their lives.
A lot of the progresses you see happen internally before they manifest externally. For example, the shift in your mindset, the discipline of improving, the strengthening of your character, learning patience, self-control, resilience, etc, all these may not be visible, but they are actually part of what ultimately brings the visible growth. Changes may not be visible at the initial stage, and may not even be too noticeable, you may not even see immediate result, but they are part of the foundations of your success story. What you will become in the future is a function of the kind of foundation that you have laid in the present. People may not see your processes and your attempts, but when you achieve the result, they will see it.
I remember sometimes ago when I decided to learn a particular skill. For the first few days of going for the training, I did not notice anything different, but I kept at it. I did not allow the quest for immediate gratification to discourage me from persisting. After about a couple of months, I mastered the skill and I have been doing well in it. People now see the skills, but they do not know how many months I had to put in to master it. During those times, some people even thought that I was wasting my time, because they could not see any noticeable difference. But after a few months, the difference became very clear.
It is worthy to note that each person's journey is different from others. Someone might start a venture today, for example, and start to earn from it immediately. But you may start your own and go through a period of building first. That you have not started earning immediately does not invalidate your efforts. Remember that when someone plants corn, he will start to harvest after a few months, but the person that plants cocoa will have to wait for a couple of years. The period of waiting does not mean that progress is not made, rather it demands for patience and determination. Remember that at the end, it is the result that will validate both the processes and the journey.
A lot of people quit at just the edge of their breakthrough. But what they fail to understand is that the point at which you experience the most challenges might just be moments to your breakthrough point. A lot of breakthroughs happened just after the point that a lot of people would have given up. This is why you have to be persistent, be determined, refuse to quit, and trust the process.
Thanks for reading
A timely reminder that is true not only in construction and agriculture, but also in micro-investing. Thanks for sharing your piece.
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Thanks for the nice comment, friend @hive-as-mission
Your post is very motivational.
Construction doesn't even start with the foundation. Long before ground is broken, architects and engineers work to design the project. Countless hours of labor go into site analysis, consultation with the client, regulatory compliance, and more. Your analogy of invisible progress is thus even better than you thought.
Well said. That's right, there are activities that precede the foundation and are very significant to the success of the building. That's the invisible progress.
Thanks for this insightful contribution, friend @jacobtothe