I know, success is a journey….I just wish that I had faster transportation!

By Chris Ihrig

I read this phrase once that said something like “Most overnight successes, are at least 10 years in the making.”  I’d like to consider myself currently going through the “10 years in the making”.  Sometimes I feel that I’m in the first month, and sometimes I feel that I’ve already surpassed the 10 years. With this said, I also know by many measurements, I’ve already been fortunate to experience many wins in life, for which I have deep gratitude and appreciation.  Life is full of multiple journeys, and I’ve just recently begun a new one, which has got me thinking about this journey to success.  I want to preframe that there are lots of ingredients to success, and my thoughts are certainly not an exhaustive list.  These are just three simple reflections about the journey:

The first thought — time has the same relationship to success, as an amateur has to a champion.  Every champion today, was first an amateur, that took time to become a champion.  Every success of tomorrow requires time from today. There is a process of learning and developing, practicing and growing, and training and studying.

The second thought – there is an attitude needed for success, to work through the mistakes, failures, and losses.  When it comes to our hopes and dreams, there are three possible answers from the universe, no matter what you believe: yes, not now, or there’s something else.  It’s easy to be positive and optimistic and hopeful when the answer is yes, and exactly what you wanted.  Where positive attitude is so important is when we’re going into the game “the 10-year journey” and we don’t know the final score.  Champions don’t need to know the final score.  They have an attitude that believes the final score will be in their favor.

The third thought – champions get the right to compete for the top position, achieve the number one status, be the best in the world, and reach their hopes and dreams, through several wins along the way – And they take the time to celebrate those wins, whatever size they are, because they all have a part in the overall success.

So back to my transportation on this journey to success – My speed will be influenced by the time that I invest daily, my unwavering attitude of optimistic belief, and celebrating every win that is progress along the way.

Last thought – I still want it to go faster, and that’s okay.  I can be patient enough to avoid being Johathan Winters who said “I couldn’t wait for success, so I went ahead without it.”