This is part of a long article from a copywriting newsletter that I received today. There's some good stuff in it, especially about staying detached.
"I have known many people who know their true identity ... and have begun making it happen ... but got weary in doing the work to make it a reality.
Here’s what happens ...
They find their passion and purpose in life.
They make a start and get rolling.
Then, something marvelous and painful happens. I call it the brick wall test.
They hit opposition. All of their initial plans fall apart. Nothing works out the way they wanted it to.
They begin to wonder, “I am supposed to be doing this. It’s my life mission. It’s my calling. When I started, everything fell into place so nicely. Now look at things! They are all falling apart?! Why? Maybe I’m NOT supposed to be doing this ... ugggggggggghhh!!!!!!”
It is at this point that their daily routine starts to take on a different shape.
Instead of being steady in the things that will make their dream a reality, they do other things.
And, it doesn’t really matter what other things ... as long as it’s “other.”
The solution is what I call “Detached Daily Routine.” I don’t mean detached from your goal. I mean detached from the results.
The stress and anxiety I described above comes from looking at your efforts and comparing them to your goals.
People have an expectation that they will put in X amount of labor and get X amount of results. But it never works that way.
Usually, you have to put in 2-10 times the amount of work you thought it would take (and at least that much blood, sweat, and tears) ... but, in the end, you will reap exponentially more results than you’d hoped for.
Mark this well ... It is always much, much harder to achieve a goal than you hope ... and the rewards are always much, much sweeter than you can imagine.
So, as you go about creating your dream each day, you need to detach emotionally from your results.
Think back to my many gardening analogies. You don’t get to eat the fruit right after planting. It takes time and work. You have to be steady at watering, steady in weeding, steady in pruning, steady in fertilizing, etc. ...
And during all of that time, you don’t get any fruit. You just get dirt and leaves.
If your expectations are off — which they usually are — then frustration sets in.
But the fruit is coming and the harvest will be beyond your expectations ... if you are steady!
In the movie The Greatest Game Ever Played, Harry Vardon, the world’s best golfer at the time, says ...
“There’s only two kinds of players — those who hold on to their nerves and go on to win championships, and those who don’t.”
People lose their nerve because they mismanage their expectations. In building their dreams, they get caught up in the emotion of the daily routine and lose sight of the end prize.
Keep your nerve. Stay steady. "
