Discouraged by lack of Results?

There are few things as discouraging as working at something for days, weeks, months...years, even...and not see any results. Lack of results, failure to get traction, inability to get others to buy in to your dream, seemingly unanswered prayer....whatever 'lack of results'  looks like in your world....it's the reason so many people quit mid-stream. Over the years I've learnt that sometimes it shows up as rejection, sometimes as indifference, still other times as stagnation....but I've also learnt that if I pin my dreams to the 'evidence' of results then the likelihood of my succeeding is almost nil.

Let's be clear on this.....I'm not for one moment suggesting that early results are not important in keeping us motivated. That would be ideal. But the truth of the matter is....for most people who have succeeded at building a dream, early success was never a part of their story. I'm pretty sure I don't have to repeat the story of Thomas Edison and his ten thousand attempts at building the first commercially viable incandescent light bulb. I have before spoken of Malcolm Gladwell's ten thousand hour theory. The fact is, early success is not guaranteed.... so if we are enough fueled with a fire to get to our end-goals we must learn to look beyond the early results. We must keep momentum through our personal convictions, our passion, our craving for significance, our desire to make a difference in this world.

• Most people, as we go through life, pick up philosophies that drive us. We are called unawares to a field of study, a cause that benefits society, something bigger than ourselves. Often its our philosophies and convictions that lead us in this direction. We find, most often, that we are unable to act outside of these personal convictions. We find we do not lay down and die when these convictions are challenged. On the contrary, we remain unfazed. How important then, as we seek to find our life's work, that this work is aligned to our personal convictions and driving philosophies.
• The value of passion to keeping momentum has much been written about. But it cannot be overstated. So far as our passions align with our purpose we never have to worry about results. They will come. They are guaranteed. Our passion pushes us beyond a thousand 'NO!s', they keep us sufficiently interested to create the traction we seek. They close our ears to our detractors and distractions...even without effort. 
• Most normal human beings hunger for significance. Some never come to terms with it, but most of us long to make our mark on the world. If you desire more than anything to 'be somebody' to be written into the life-story of others, then your desire for significance will trump your lack of early results and you will keep pushing. Your motivation will be bigger than self.
• Truly, your desire to matter beyond self will manifest itself in a desire to make a difference in the world. Phenomenally successful people have come to the realization that the most fulfilling, satisfying version of success comes when we learn to get beyond the desire to simply make money. We must, instead, desire to solve problems that matter to others; we must long to add value to people, to corporations, communities, counties.

So, as hard as it is sometimes.....let's not remain hung up on our lack of results. Let's embrace this lack as a necessary part of the process....let's carry on despite our disappointments, keeping our minds on the big, bigger picture. Let's think of the compound effect. Let us not despise the small beginnings. instead, let's 'be faithful when the amounts are small.' Before too long, I'm sure, the results we seek will bear testimony to our effort. Shalom!