The Start Is Always The Toughest

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I am currently facilitating a 4 day intensive Business Analytics class. It's split into two weekends -- two Saturdays and two Sundays. But it feels like a two full weeks training. The amount of preparation I am having to put into it is a lot. I have to come up with business relevant practice examples for the participants. I get paid per day, hourly actually. On the surface, it looks like a terrible deal. For each hour of training I get paid for, there are 3 hours I spent in getting ready that I wasn't paid for. That's how the start always is. It's always the toughest.

I remember a quote one of my mentors and bible teacher used to say, "It takes all the years you've been alive to give a 30 minutes sermon." Another one I see often online but will tweak a little for effect is, "It takes at least ten years to get an overnight success."

When you set your mind on doing something and it looks extremely tough and you begin to think it's not going to be worth it, I want you to remember that the start is always like that. I can't guarantee you that it will be worth it or not, but I can guarantee you that starting any worthwhile project/task is always tough. You will be putting more time and resources than you originally planned, then on top of that you won't see the results you are expecting. 

Last week, my sister was helping to type in an Excel sheet all the feedback and rating we got from our training participants. It brought back the memory of how we started the monthly Excel training. I postponed it twice last year and finally started in January this year. Then missed a month as only one person showed interest and I had a more lucrative training offer than week from a corporate client, so I smuggled the guy into the corporate one. The week of the training is always my toughest week of the month. I feel sick at first and panicky. Then I feel weak and exhausted. And when the training is over, I feel extremely happy and wanting to do it all over again. The start wasn't easy at all. But with time I got better and the entire thing got way easier. Now I am so used to those feelings that I don't notice them anymore.

Right now I am happy working from morning to night, everyday. My business is in the start phase. Almost everything I am doing, I am doing for the first time. Every major job is like my first. Every obstacle is new to me. Every day I am matching into unknown territories. Every day is a tough day. But I know it won't be like this for too long. Someday, hopefully soon, I will look back and be surprised at how easy it has all become. It's like building a house, you first dig below the ground level, surrounded by dirt. And start building from under the ground up. Whoever was looking at you digging yourself into a hole won't envy you at all and those who care about you will try to get you out of the hole. No one will understand that it is the only way to build the mansion you want, that they will someday envy.

So my friend, the start is always the toughest. Give it your best and look beyond it because someday you'll be very glad you didn't quit.