I was having dinner with some friends and one them who was a professional dancer, but now retired, related the story of how she started dancing professionally at 14 years old and finally got her breakthrough part at 28 years old in “A Chorus Line”. Before her big break she was working fairly regularly in bit parts and doing the odd jobs that performers do before “making it” and becoming recognized as “someone” in her part of the entertainment business. I joked with her that she was a 14-year overnight success. We all had a good laugh as she told stories of being treated different because she had come “out of nowhere” and was more recognizable and in line for better jobs.
The lesson here is you have to be patient and persistent. Why? Because it’s extremely rare for “it to happen overnight”, in fact, the opposite is the norm. The more significant your goal is, the longer it’s going to take; the more momentous it is, the more discipline it’s going to require. Your dreams must translate into work to succeed in life but the journey should not be a lonely one.
Success is not a one-man job; it takes joint effort and cooperation. Our Creator made us this way and we should take it as a blessing and leverage the abilities of one another to go farther in life than we are able to alone. Without the support, prayers, encouragement of family, friends, and even strangers you will be stymied from achieving what you are truly capable of. That’s why it’s so important to be in a small supportive group whether it is a bible study or a mastermind.
The stronger your team is, the more you can fulfill your dream. The greatest use of your life is to invest it in something that will outlast it and is larger than the individual. Jesus said, “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?” (Mark 8:36 NIV). Don’t begin working toward your goals until you’ve counted the cost and understand the what the journey may hold.
Pray for a clear vision of what your divine mission is and take the steps necessary to make it real.
