The Journey Is Long

I often find myself forgetting how long the journey is. I work 90 hours a week and have clients all over the world; why am I not a millionaire? Why do I still have slow months? I’ve been running OneNine for five whole years, after all! Life is long. Chances are, it’s not ending tomorrow. Chances are, I’m not going to do one thing that makes me a billionaire. It will be a series of little things that quantify and add up. I was telling this to my head of sales, Mike, and he responded by saying, “Duh.” He’s 38; it’s obvious at his age that the journey and process are long, but it’s not at mine, not to people in their twenties.

The happiest married couples I know are ones that got married in their early thirties.

The most successful businesses very rarely have young founders and CEOs.

The most successful people rarely find great success in their teens or twenties.

I’m sure I could write some Malcolm Gladwell 10,000 hours response on why, but the point of this post is not about why success is found later in life; it’s about reminding millennials like myself that success is not found overnight or over five years. It’s over 10, 15, 20+ years. The journey is so long!

Sometimes, I’ll listen to Jocko, and I’ll think, how is this man so disciplined? How does this man have so much knowledge? Then, I realize that Jocko Willink is 22 years older than me. Of course, he’s ahead of me. Of course, he has a better understanding. Like, duh! This post is a simple reminder to keep grinding hard with no immediate expectations because pretty much nothing immediate is good. Do you want the McDonald’s steak or the Ruth’s Chris steak? One takes longer and is a lot better.