The Instant of Snow, the Instant of Change
Friday it snowed in Charlotte. I was looking out my office window at the exact instant the snow began.
We knew the snow was coming. Several times during the day I went to the window to see if it was here yet. I looked at the lowering grey sky. I checked the wind, high in the trees. No snow.
But this time was different. As I was looking at the sky, suddenly, in an instant, there was snow in front of my eyes. One instant I was waiting. The next instant I was watching.
A lot of life change is like that. Steady effort. Sudden-seeming change.
I once coached an executive who wanted to improve the quality of his internal blog posts. He worked diligently.
He honed his openings, improved his research, and adjusted his writing rhythm. But for a very long time it seemed like he wasn’t making much progress.
Then, after more than a year of effort, we both realized that for the previous month, every post had been excellent. Even when we reviewed the posts we couldn’t spot the moment when change happened.
Like the snow, mastery wasn’t there. Then, in an instant, it was.
Many of the most worthwhile things you can learn in life take a long time. Conscious, deliberate effort, coupled with feedback and adjustment will move the process along. Even so it may seem like you’re not making much progress.
That’s when it’s hard to keep going. So do these two things.
Remind yourself every day of why you’re putting in the effort.
Remind yourself of what you need to do today. A checklist will help.
Keep working. Keep getting better. Because one day, suddenly, mastery, like the snow, will be there.