Sterling Terrell

recovering economist

The Awful Truth Of Consistent Work

The Awful Truth Of Consistent Work

The awful truth of consistent work is this:

Consistent work, over a large period of time, is the only way to improve at something – and the only way to build something worthwhile.

This is, of course, what no 21 year old wants to hear.

Heck, nobody wants to hear this: “Work at this for 10 years and see.”

But I have to remind myself of this nearly once a week. Be patient.

I hope my children grasp this truth early.

Understand: Mastery takes time.

Anytime you start heaping shame and despair on yourself, step back and remember that you are still learning. Yes, you’re not where you want to be, but you are on your way. After you’ve put in ten years of consistent work, you can reevaluate if you really do suck at it.

-Tim Grahl, Running Down A Dream

Nonessential Stuff

Nonessential Stuff

We have a lot of nonessential stuff, don’t we?

And we send a lot of our time on many nonessential things.

There is nothing wrong with this fundamentally, but how many essential tasks are you setting aside in this pursuit?

You could be, writing that book you wanted to write, spending time with your children, or learning a new skill.

The point is that you can’t complain about not having time to go to the gym and spend all night playing video games.

You can’t watch an hour of Netflix per day and simultaneously complain about not having enough time for X.

Get it?

When you stop doing the nonessential stuff, you realize that you’ve got a world of time on your hands. That time is yours to reconfigure to move you forward toward your aspiration. You will never truly understand how much time is yours until you strip away the nonessential.

-Tim Grahl, Running Down A Dream

Sterling Terrell