In today’s episode, I’m opening up a conversation about taking things slowly at our own pace and being okay if it is taking more time than we thought it should take for us to make our creative ideas, businesses or projects happen. I am also sharing a few personal stories to make my point.
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Links that I mentioned:
- Group program: Embrace 2.0
- Work with me: 1:1 coaching and mentoring for creatives
- Book a free 15-min discovery call with me
- Sign up to the fortnightly letters
- Connect with me on instagram @hirasahmed
- Connect with me on LinkedIn
Transcript of the episode:
So today, let’s talk about the frustration and second-guessing yourself that comes up when things are taking time to happen. More time than you thought they would take. More time than they took x,y, or z person.
You have started working on something, a creative project, a creative business maybe, an idea that you just cannot wait to actualize and share with the world but now it is taking time. It is taking more time than you expected it to take. It is taking more time than you think it should take. It is taking you more time than everyone else around you. At least it appears so.
Here’s what I want you to consider: It is okay if it takes time.
It is going to take time. It’s okay if it takes the time it takes. We all are wired differently with a different set of skills. We have different strengths and a different set of weaknesses. We all experience comparison and we all know how unhealthy comparison is. I will chat more about that in another episode in more detail though.
I think it is not fair to our work and ourselves.
I think we over-promise and overburden ourselves with the tasks that we take on. Sometimes the time we think is enough for a certain task or project is not realistic enough especially if the task is new to you and then that initial expectation becomes a stick to beat ourselves with. Maybe you want to write a blog post and you think giving it an hour would be more than enough but you have never written a blog post before and as it turns out, it takes you more than two hours and now you feel frustrated. This just reminded me of this – Some time ago Kayte of Simple and Season shared how she batch wrote I think 2,3 episodes in 45 minutes or so. I don’t remember the time slot she mentioned in her Instagram stories and then someone replied that it takes them more than double the time to write just one. Her response was, I have been doing this for years! on a weekly basis so now it comes easy to me. I think this is something we need to keep in mind too! It will take the time it needs to take. You’ll get better by practice if it is about a skill like that. For some people, it might not take the amount of time it might take you to get from the idea to the execution stage and that’s okay.
Another aspect that I wanted to share about this time taking thing is – maybe you dreamed of starting a business and then you did just that. You started a business, you did all the hard work behind the scenes, developed your services, started building a community, started showing up consistently with your content, and the promises you’ve made but it is just not happening yet. You are not getting the client inquiries just yet, you are frustrated because for so and so it didn’t take that long.
Don’t let yourself feel overwhelmed and any kind of pressure just because for everyone else that you are following online or in your life, it’s been taking much less time than you. I know it is hard to do so. It is a constant struggle but you are so not alone. Remind yourself of this whenever you feel like you are behind. You are not behind but you are in your own timeline and now you are choosing to stay in your own lane.
And my biggest encouragement would be – it is okay to take it slow too.
Just yesterday I was looking at my LinkedIn profile and I saw the date I started this website and my freelance career. I started 3 years ago! Almost 3 years ago. In my head, I was thinking maybe it was 2 years only. It is strange but I didn’t keep track of the time because I was afraid to measure it and find out that I still haven’t made it yet. That will hurt. Anyway, it took me these three years to find out what I really wanted from my freelance/ online presence. Only now, I feel like I know what I am doing and what I want to be doing, what I want to continue doing, and what I want to let go of or what I want more of. I think – an important part of it all was the self-discovery process. It took me all these years, for you, it might not take even a year. Maybe you already know what you want and who you are. I didn’t and this is why I think it took me way longer. For me, it was like starting all over again. Also, I was doing all these other things on the side and a lot of things were happening in my personal life. I was adjusting to a new country and an expat life. We were struggling financially as we had chosen to live in one of the most expensive cities. I was attending a language school. I was making time to learn Danish outside of school. I was also trying to adjust as a wife, we were discussing and arguing about the traditional gender roles. Anyway, the point is – it took me a longer time than I thought it would make my business work and more time than I was seeing other people make their business work. I am sure you’ve felt this in some way too. I just wanted to open up a conversation today that it is okay if it takes the time it takes and it is so okay to take it slowly – at your own pace and taking your personal life circumstances in consideration too. And honestly, I think what really helped me all these years was my resilience and stubbornness and persistence to keep going and not giving up on myself, my work, my business, my creativity or my life just yet. I think it is an important nerve to develop if you want to build a creative business for yourself.
So yeah, I wanted to say, it is okay to go at your own pace and go slowly if you have to. And being mindful of your unique challenges and circumstances. Like the way, I was just sharing about mine here. Very often the normal we see out there is hustle and set patterns of time and hard work modeled to us. I have learned and I am slowly embracing the idea that it’s okay to take it at a pace you are comfortable with, a pace that works for you. What would it look like if we allow ourselves to it slowly if that works better for us? What would it look like if we understand that things take the time they take?
I’ll leave you with this quote: I won’t try to say the name as honestly I don’t know how to say it and I think it would be disrespectful but I’ll add the quote in the show notes and on my website. So, here it is –
“Nothing comes as an accomplishment instantly. Success does not come overnight. Patience is the key! Grow up and be the tree; but remember it takes dry and wet seasons to become a fruit bearer, achiever and impact maker!” – Israelmore Ayivor
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