Our modern life is measured in seconds. Take a selfie or text a message waiting for a quick reply, slowing down only to binge-watch your favorite series. Sometimes reading about someone’s accomplishments in a minute or two on social media.
Making it very difficult for us to come to terms with just how tedious and long a journey it is to accomplish a few significant things in our lives. To grind, be a grinder, or to be grinding is a fairly modern term.
The picture above describes it best. Grinding is focusing on tenths or hundredths of an inch. Not yards or miles. Grinding is difficult work. It’s tedious. Never standing out when seeing the final product. Yet very important to the finished product that will be put out into the world.
Grinding is the exact thing that powers endurance and persistence. These descriptive traits manifest themselves when things are not going well but we continue to grind for a long time. When progress does not appear in sight. Sometimes when things seem worse instead of getting better.
Focusing on small changes, and slight improvements. Then stacking them together day after day. Until things begin to look much different months or years later.
Grinding is exactly what we must turn to when things are not clear. Where there doesn’t seem to be a clear path forward. Using our force of will to move a tenth of an inch and not becoming discouraged. To focus on completing what is at hand, not looking at how far we need to go.
We must remember – grinding turns into being described as having endurance and persistence. It is not the result of endurance or persistence. It creates the appearance of endurance or persistence over time.
Grinding comes long before significant accomplishment. With the satisfaction for our many, many hours of work only appearing much later than when you started.