It takes work to get the work you love

- When I was first starting out, I wish I knew that anything worthwhile takes a long time. I wish I knew that things would turn out okay by the time I was in my 40s. I wish I knew enough not to be so afraid to go after what I really wanted, but I didn't. I thought that if I didn't get into one graduate school that I wanted to go to, that I wouldn't get into any. I thought that if I didn't get into the one art program that I wanted to get into, that I wouldn't get into any. And I thought that if I didn't get the one job that I really, really wanted, that I had to settle for whatever came my way, as otherwise, I would never get a job, and I would be unemployable for the rest of my life. Which means that I would end up homeless and penniless and alone. At that time of my life, I feared that I was too old, not talented enough, not smart enough, not anything enough to get what I really wanted. And I was only 30. Looking back on this now, the feeling of being infinitely unemployed was palpable. I never once considered that I was worthy of getting a job that I loved or that I was capable of living a creative life. I think one of the unfortunate ramifications of the technologically driven world we now live in is the speed in which we expect things to happen. We've gone from writing letters to making phone calls to sending faxes and emails, to typing out one line about this vast experience we call life. We can have instantaneous global conversations, immediate poll results and 15 minute viral sensations online. As a result, we now want instant gratification of our hopes and dreams but accomplishment and mastery take time and reflection. The only formula for success is time and hard work. Many years ago, I was doing a lecture for a group of students, and I was talking about how long things can take. A young woman raised her hand at the end of the lecture and asked for some advice. Apparently she was feeling very discouraged as she had started a blog and wasn't getting any traction. No one was reading what she had written. She was now hoping to get some pointers on how to get people to visit her site and read her posts. My first question to her was how long have you been working on your blog? And she looked at me without blinking and very sincerely and earnestly, she stated six weeks. Six weeks. I think it is nearly impossible to do anything meaningful in six weeks. We're living in a culture that when you graduate from college, you are expected to know exactly what you want to do, where you want to do it and what your life plan will be. And if you aren't successful right out of the gate, there must be something wrong with you. And this emotion builds into a sense of hopelessness if you aren't able to achieve something quickly. It takes work to get the work you love. And mastery of that work is a process that takes years. If you're one of the few souls in the world that are actually able to hit it out of the ballpark before you're 30, you might want to consider how you're going to be able to sustain that success over the long term. The pressure to keep succeeding over and over will mount, and you will likely feel that you must only hit the home runs. That's impossible. Take your time and build your skills. Refine your methodology over time, and give yourself the opportunity to grow and develop. Use your 20s to experiment. This is a time when falling flat on your face is expected. Build something meaningful rather than build something fast. The length of time it takes for you to succeed is generally a good measure of how long you'll be able to sustain and enjoy it.