Alex Aster is the managing editor of The Newsette, and, as a part of our new “Ask Alex” series, she tackles some of our readers’ most pressing questions, in an effort to bring a new perspective to the table. Today, Alex answers a question about patience.
Q: Dear Alex, I’m twenty-five, and live on the west coast. I have a 9-5, but am also a year into my side-hustle. My question is this–how do I stay patient, when all I want is to succeed? It’s not like I started yesterday, I’ve been doing this a year, every day, and feel like I’m getting nowhere. I’m starting to feel like this isn’t worth it. Help.
A: First of all, congrats on having the courage to start your own thing. Don’t downplay the strength it took to do that–right now, there are thousands of people around the country who have always wanted to launch their own project, and never will.
A year seems like a long time–and it is! But in the land of trying-to-make-something-big, you’re really only just getting started. Yes, we’ve all heard the tales of founders selling their companies for lots and lots of money after a few months, but think of them as the lottery-winners of the group. Aka, that most likely isn’t going to be any of us. And that’s okay! Working hard at something for a long time will only make your wins more satisfying. Trust me.
It’s normal to feel discouraged when you’ve worked hard for something, and are seeing limited results. But try to reframe this period of time in your mind. Instead of thinking, wow, I’ve been doing so much work for twelve months and have seen no results, why do I even try, rephrase this as wow, I’m so proud of myself for keeping at this for an entire year! I have faith that my hard work will pay off soon, I just have to keep going. The reality is that most of your favorite entrepreneurs, authors, bloggers, etc. worked years and years for their success. If it was easy to succeed, and only took a year, don’t you think everyone would do it?
Again–a year in is basically your trial period. The time where you make mistakes, learn a lot, and potentially pivot. Don’t give up, and good luck!