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Surviving the dry spells
By Innocent M Gathungu

The most difficult part of the success journey is the period in between setting goals and attaining those goals.

I call this the dry spell, when, although you know you will one day enjoy the sweet savour of success, the current reality is that you are going through a difficult patch. Even as you focus and consistently and tenaciously work on your goals, you get tired, fatigued, even distracted.

There are times in your success journey when you might feel like giving it all up; hanging up your gloves and closing shop. These are all normal and humane feelings, but which you should not act on.

Whoever said that success is a journey forgot to add a rider; that it is more often a marathon and hardly a sprint. To have a fair chance of success, you have to be prepared to go the full distance.

One of the leading causes of failure is having unrealistic expectations. The fixation on instant riches has left in its wake a lot of disappointed people. Unless you win a lottery or inherit an estate, there's no such thing as instant success. To attain true, gratifying success, you will need to work harder and longer; and have the tenacity to weather current discomforts and setbacks.

People who never try to be successful never fail. No one has ever started a project with failure in mind. The question, therefore, begs: if no one sets out to fail, then how come so many end up in failure territory?

Whereas I can give a few quick answers such as; lack of a vision, lack of a plan, lack of clarity and focus, etc; the more revealing, and more complex, answer would be the inability to cope with the difficult patches that line the success journey.

Everyone wants to succeed; but not everyone succeeds. To succeed, you need to devise a strategy not only for success, but also for surviving the difficult terrain of the success journey. Once you overcome the rough patches, success becomes nearly almost assured.

When you can barely meet your daily subsistence, waiting for success can be the most agonising part of the journey. For instance, as I write this article, I have serious financial and career needs. I have my goals all clearly set and I'm doing what I need to do to achieve my goal: to become a renowned motivational writer and speaker. To attain my goal, I have to keep writing on a regular basis and to at least match the standards of greats such as John Maxwell, Anthony Robbins, Norman Vincent Pearle, Stephen Covey, etc. This is not an easy task – and no one said it was going to be easy. I have to be real to myself; I cannot be a John Maxwell by writing a few articles – it's going to take time for me to build credibility and respect (but, hey, the fact that you are reading this piece means I'm still on track).

I have distilled from a long list, three things that you must have to survive the dry spells on your way to success. These are attitudes you need to maintain as you wait out success.

Be optimistic
First, maintain optimism at all times. To be optimistic means that you are fairly confident of success – that even though you have not succeed yet, you believe that your chances of success far outweigh the dry spells you are going through. These dry spells are not permanent – that's why I call them spells! Even as you encounter rough patches on your success journey, remember that they are only temporal – they will pass with the tide; and then success will come.

Be realistic
As mentioned above, unrealistic expectations are the bane of most failures. You cannot win a cross-country race in 13 seconds. This timescale is only limited to 100m sprints. To win the cross-country, you need to have the tenacity to weather the rough terrain. Success is like that. To attain success, you must be in the journey for the long haul – and be prepared to endure difficulties along the way.

Be patient
If you have done the best you could, there is probably nothing else you can do but wait. Be fair to yourself and relax. Success always comes to those who are patient enough to wait for it. No one has ever finished a race without going the distance – and it takes time, strength and will power to go the distance. Go easy on yourself as you wait for the fruits of success.

This list could definitely be longer and more substantive. However, if you are optimistic, realistic and patient, it will just be a matter of time before you start living your dream. Remember, if you want to succeed, prepare for a long, tortuous journey.

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