A stone cutter will bang on a rock 100 times in a row and won’t even make a crack.

Then on the 101st blow, the rock will split in two.

While some of us may think that he did something different on that final blow, the stone cutter knows it wasn’t the 101st blow that did it, but rather the 100 that came before it.

First of all, who is this stone cutter and how do I get his patience?

Some of the most frustrating work in the world is doing something for so long with no results that it seems completely futile.

And for the longest time, I struggled with this.

Truth be told, I struggle with it still.

I’m an action-first type of person whose self-esteem is rooted in productivity — so much so that it gives me pleasure to write a task down on a Post-It note that I’ve already completed, just so I can mark through it with my pen.

So having a task that won’t show me any results for at least 100 actions is a living Hell for me.

Or at least it was, until I changed my perspective.

It’s so easy to be short-sighted because of the immediate results and it’s also much easier to say “focus on long term growth” than to actually do it.

But the point of transformation for me was realizing that I wasn’t going anywhere.

Instead, I was spinning in circles from task to task (just so I could feel like I was making progress) that I didn’t even realize that I was staying in the same place instead of moving forward. Plus, as you know, spinning in circles constantly will make you dizzy. And what that metaphor relates to in the real world is being so overwhelmed that you eventually burnout.

I finally realized, thankfully, that if I wanted different results, I had to do something different.

What if I actually listened to the “trust the process” coaches, mentors, and successful people I looked up to? What if they were actually right the whole time?

So I did.

I started banging on my rock with consistency and persistence.

I put out a podcast every week even when less than 100 people were listening. I started automating my investments and savings in small affordable amounts weekly. I wrote every day, I posted content every day, I reached out to event coordinators every week for speaking gigs.

I kept banging on that rock.

Then, I started to see small cracks forming. And that small result gave me so much momentum, because I could see it was working.

The crazy thing is, the growth curve happens like a hockey stick. No upward movement for a long time and then a small curve. That small curve turns upwards at an exponential rate until it is almost going straight up in a vertical line.

But the problem is, most people give up before that happens.

Or as Bill Gates said, ““Most people overestimate what they can achieve in a year and underestimate what they can achieve in ten years.”

I’m not where I want to be yet. Not by any means.

I have a lot of different rocks I want to break through.

But now I know the way — by repeating the same movement consistently and persistently.

And eventually that rock will split.

 

Rain Bennett is a two-time Emmy-nominated filmmaker, writer, and competitive storyteller with over a decade of experience producing documentary films that focus on health and wellness. His mission is simple: to make the world happier and healthier by sharing stories of change.

You can read the rest of “Right as Rain” here, and check back every Wednesday on Chapelboro for a new column! 

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