Persistence Pays

How to Stay Positive When Results Are Slow Coming

Even when we can’t see the fruits of our efforts, things are happening in the background of our lives.

Napoleon Hill, in his book Think and Grow Rich, wrote about Darby. Darby was a man who went prospecting for gold during the Gold Rush. He found some ground that seemed promising and started digging. After three weeks he did, indeed, find gold. He dug some more and there was more gold.

Encouraged with his find, he covered up his hole and went back East to take up a collection for the purchase of expensive mining equipment. When he had collected enough to buy the machinery, he returned to the same spot. He began digging again. He dug, and he dug, and he dug. But after a while the vein of gold he’d been following dried up.

Discouraged, Darby gave up. He sold his equipment at a loss and went on his way. The junkman who bought his machinery sought out expert help from a geologist and learned that fault lines could shift a vein several feet. He found out where Darby had been digging, went out to Darby’s spot, and struck gold only three feet from where Darby had stopped digging.

Darby had started prospecting for gold because he had a hunch he would find it. And he had some early success. But he received some unwanted feedback and lost hope. He probably did not ask himself the question “What are all my options here?” or “What am I failing to notice?” (a favorite query of mine that never fails to broaden my perspective).

Had fear from having borrowed money from friends and relatives to buy that equipment blocked his intuition, which had probably guided him to that spot in the first place? I wonder if he had calmed himself and asked himself some clarifying questions, like the ones above, if he would have thought to seek advice or continue digging.

I feel like I’m digging for gold with my business. The conventional wisdom for internet marketing is to build your email list, offer a ton of value for free, and build your brand and tribe. I’m following this model and have had some success. It’s exciting to work and develop my business. It fills me with anticipation and hope; however, the process feels slow.

When I forget that there are elements that are working in the background of our lives, lining things up as we are being groomed to handle the fruits of our efforts, I can get discouraged and fatigued by the work I’m putting in. But I remember Darby’s story and think, I might be at the threshold of a breakthrough. And I keep on going.

I check in with my inner guide for what my next moves should be and what I’m failing to notice. Then I continue, feeling confident in my approach. I continue to learn marketing strategy and build my coaching and writing skills. I plug on.

But for many, discouragement can result in giving up altogether. When I get frustrated with the pace of my progress, I check in with myself, to prevent this from happening. I ask myself if what I’m doing feels like struggle (effort laced with negative emotions) or if the path I’m following is the right one. If I am struggling, I ask myself why. Most of the time, it’s because I have set unrealistic expectations and as a result, things aren’t’ happening quickly enough for me. Sometimes, I feel like I’m forcing things to work and become anxious. In these times, I recognize, after I’ve allowed myself to get quiet and sense my natural gut instincts, that I was following a path that was out of integrity with my values to begin with. I was doing something that worked for someone else, but that wasn’t made for me. My thoughts and actions were not congruent.

Yesterday morning I started my practice of actively tapping into my intuition and asking myself the question “What am I failing to notice?” I lay in bed and waited for the answer to dawn on me. A minute later, I had my answer. I got the feeling that I am on the right path with my business. I felt excited to tackle that day’s work. A wave of peace washed over me, accompanied by the idea that things are working in the background of my life, even though I can’t see them.

Later that morning, I got an email from a friend confirming this. She wrote, “Perseverance wins the game.”

It is a challenge to be here out on this limb onto which I’ve ventured –living alone in France and building an entrepreneurial business. But each morning, I wake up excited for what is in store for the day. I don’ t dread having to go into a job where the work feels like a meaningless grind. What gives me strength is my connection to my inner compass.

Whatever you choose to call it– intuition, gut instinct, inner guide, inner knowing–we all have it at our disposal. And when we leverage it, when we slow down enough to sense it and listen to it, this sense brings us a feeling of certainty in a very uncertain world.