Good Things Take Time

The start of the new year brings on an overwhelming amount of goals, resolutions, hopes and plans. I personally have a long history of over-committing myself because I look at the year and think I can take on too many things at once, which can lead to not accomplishing all that much. This time of year can also send us to the store to buy all kinds of new things that we think are going to help us become the person we want to be in the new year. New planners, new clothes, kitchen appliances that will help us eat healthier, the list could go on and on. 

As we embark on new goals, resolutions, or actions we’re trying to turn into habits, it can be really frustrating when we don’t see instant results. In fact, studies show that only about 8% of people actually fulfill the goals they set at the beginning of a new year. So what’s the deal? Why is it so difficult for us to fulfil the goals we set for ourselves? My answer: our need for instant gratification. We don’t want to put in the time it takes to achieve something good. As soon as something becomes difficult, we stop in our tracks and start out on a new path towards something better/easier with - what we think will have - faster results. Don’t they say that it takes 10,000 hours to become great at something? Another reason we might not fulfill our goals is that we open up Instagram and get to see all the cool things other people are accomplishing while our goal is still in its early stages. No one accomplishes anything without a few bumps or roadblocks, so today I wanted to share three good things in my life that have taken a significant amount of time to develop.

Becoming a group fitness instructor 

I started regularly attending fitness classes during the second semester of my freshman year. From that point on, I was hooked. The classes were challenging yet fun, and offered a way to relax and connect with new people. Throughout that semester I became interested in becoming a fitness instructor myself. There was a semester long “Learn to Teach” course offered through ISU Recreation Services taking place the next fall, so I registered for it. I didn’t find out until later that we were required to attend the 90 minute class twice per week throughout the ENTIRE semester for zero academic course credit. On top of that, students in the class were offered an audition at the end of the semester where getting hired as an instructor was not guaranteed. After getting hired, instructors were expected to study for and pass a nationally certified exam in order to be allowed to teach. Let’s remember here that I’m an ag major and have never taken a kinesiology class in my life. 

The Learn to Teach course was difficult. All while taking the course I just kept telling myself that after I was hired as an instructor everything would become easier. I was SO WRONG. Luckily I started out teaching with a mentor so I got to ease into the position, but I spent hours each week practicing and writing my workouts. I would get so nervous on the days I was teaching and wasn’t able to think about much else or be productive with homework. The nerves calmed as the weeks went on, but I can honestly say that I was teaching for a solid five months before I didn’t feel any sort of nervousness anymore. 

I absolutely love the job now and am able to go into each class with a confident mindset. However, it took me a heck of a long time to get to this point. I remember back to one of my first classes where I wondered if instructing was really something I should be pursuing. The job brings me so much joy, but there was no shortage of hard work that went into getting to the point I’m at now. 

Pursuing a photography business

Photography is the perfect college job. I get to decide the hours I work on editing each week and most photoshoots I do are on the weekends. Although I love the self directed workflow, it is often difficult for me to measure my own success. I am constantly critiquing my own images, and I catch myself comparing my work to others which makes me feel anxious. I think it is easy to be intimidated by other photographers who are pursuing photography as a full time career. They have better equipment, fancy websites, vendor relationships, more time for editing, I could go on and on. Being a college student with an evolving schedule, it is difficult to determine how much work I should be taking on each season. There are some days when I wonder if I would be better off taking a different job or internship where the work would be steady and I would be given a list of tasks to complete. But then I remind myself that I’m only a few years into this gig and it’s not my full time commitment (although sometimes it feels like it is). The photographers that I compare myself to have many more years of experience. 

When I’m worrying about this business, I occasionally need to remind myself of the progress I have made:

1. I started with a basic camera and was shooting on aperture priority mode. Now I own two full frame DSLR cameras that I am confident in controlling to create the images I want. 

2. I wanted to start shooting weddings but didn’t know where to start, so I reached out to several photographers that I admired and asked to be an unpaid assistant. A year and a half later I had booked five weddings to shoot on my own. 

3. I graduate and May and don’t yet have plans. So how am I supposed to book sessions based around a job I haven’t gotten? It is easy to feel behind when other photographers are posting about 2020 bookings. I know I will be able to continue my photography business, so for now I’m taking portrait sessions on a waitlist with plans to book solid dates later on in the spring. This is one of those goals that still falls in the “wait” category. I know how many sessions I would like to book this year but it can be challenging when I’m not ready to make the necessary date commitments to reach those goals. For now I’m going to give it time and have faith that as long as I’m willing to work hard when the time comes I can reach the goals I have in place. 

Training for a marathon

You may have read about the marathon I ran last June in this blog post, but I’m going to mention it again here. This is single handedly the most difficult goal I have ever set for myself. I registered for the run in January 2019 not having hardly ran since my senior year of high school. I remember going to the gym to run on the indoor track for the first time the week after I registered. I ran two miles that evening and it kicked my butt. I ran so slow but was winded and exhausted after completing those 24 laps around the tiny indoor track. I slowly improved my mile times and upped my daily mileage. On the day I was supposed to go on my first long run (6 miles) in February, I woke up to heavy snowfall. Jacob committed to running with me, so when he showed up all dressed for winter running I knew it wasn’t the time to start making excuses. Now both of us can look back on that beautiful snowy morning and say we accomplished something that we’re proud of. The long runs didn’t get any easier after that, however. I upped my mileage each week until hitting a 20 mile day in early June. 

Sure, I was tired during those six months I spent training for the marathon, but there were several good things in my life that I attribute to training for and actually running the 26.2 miles. 

1. The crazy amounts of exercise I was getting during the training period showed me that “being busy” is not an excuse not to exercise. I believe that the extra exercise was actually causing me to be more motivated towards my work. Going on a run would make me feel great. It cleared my mind and helped me feel a sense of accomplishment. Nowadays there are very few times where I will pass up a workout when I am stressed. That training period showed me that it doesn’t matter the circumstances, getting up and moving my body will give me a boost in other areas of my life. 

2. I ran the entire marathon with my good friend, Miranda. You can check out her guest blog post here. After I registered for the marathon last January, I was talking about it in a barre class where Miranda also happened to be. She shared that she had signed up for the half marathon at the same race. After a few weeks of us talking about the run, she ended up changing her registration so that she could run the full marathon, too! Throughout the spring we shared about our training but never actually trained together. We met up at the start line on the morning of the marathon and planned our pace hoping to run the entire race together. And we ended up running together ALL of the 26.2 miles! This is now an experience that we get to share and have such great memories together. It was so cool to accomplish something like this with someone who is now such a close friend. 

We all know nothing is ever easy, but sometimes no one tells us how long it will take to get where we want to be, or if that is even possible. We don’t need fancy new things in order to accomplish our goals. All you really need is good support from those around you and a willingness to work hard.