Old school value that never gets old: putting in the time. 

Ditch the belief that you are entitled to mass success on day one. Instead believe it’s a slow build based on time you invest into your goals. 

Our goals and ambition while precious commodities to be leveraged towards building our future selves can also be dangerous when combined with entitlement and ego. 

Let me explain. 

While everyone should have a belief in their own success it is important to check our entitlement and ego at the door. Ego in its purest form is the part of our consciousness that is completely self-serving and often destroys the positive forces of our relationships around us. Ego has us thinking of self interest first and foremost without consideration to those around us. 

However most goals are not achieved alone. While you might have done the work someone was near by clearing the path for you, holding down the fort at home and potentially supporting you financially and/or emotionally.

Bringing them in and celebrating your success with them releases ego and entitlement while embracing the journey along the way. 

One of my biggest lessons learned in business that has carried through in every aspect of my life has been to embrace the journey. To me this means putting in the time over and over again to eventually achieve a goal. 

This is a practice and does not come easily to many. Here’s how I break it down.

1) Practice. The definition of practice to to repeat an action over and over again until it becomes second nature. Practice to me is putting concerted time and energy towards a goal in hopes of understanding it better and applying the best possible mentors and teachings along the way so that my practice is strengthened. 

An Olympic gold athlete would practice their sport millions of times before qualifying for the Olympics in the first place. They would never get gold the first time ever playing the sport. Even despite their best efforts at the games even the best lose along the way. 

2) Be humble. I love this one. To me this is about checking the ego at the door and allowing yourself the space to learn from others. Everyone and everything presents a lesson if we allow ourselves to see it that way. Don’t miss out just because we already believe we know all. 

3) Be around those that have what you want. It’s said that we are a sum of the 5 people we hang around most. My opinion is to always establish friendships, mentorships and affiliations with those that have what we are striving for. 

They will have experienced the path towards what we want and can undoubtedly share their triumphs and challenges so that we may again learn from them. It’s also a fantastic way to always grow our network and be inspired by new and amazing people. 

4) Take on any role. I have swept floors, gotten coffee, owned the late (and early) shifts, interned for free and travelled far to get experience. I never felt too good or too experienced to tackle a challenge if it got me a step closer to achieving my goal. 

5) Learn everything. I’m notorious for asking a million questions. I always have a perspective towards learning and open to new information. I’m also stubborn (aka ego!) so sometimes this information takes longer to be absorbed but eventually gets absorbed. Never be afraid to be raising your hand in class, piping up into a meeting to ask a question, sending an email to someone you admire to ask for advice. Being seen as one who is interested in understanding why and how is disarming and often brings people in who want to help you. 

Putting in the time to achieve a goal never gets old in my opinion. It’s how the greats got great in the first place. 

Our society is obsessed with making it big overnight and with little effort. But that isn’t realistic for most. This Mindset perpetuates a long list of one hit wonders and not really the kind of success any of us want to be attributed to. 

My advice – Time and effort creates success that has longevity and legacy to back up the goals you’d like to achieve. 

Jordanna