Success Is a Climb

Success Is a Climb

Joy Rally Podcast: Episode 15

Welcome back to The Joy Rally Podcast! I’m your host, Abby Flynn, and today we have a fun little work-focused episode. This could kind of be a life episode, as well, too, so it’s kind of like a hybrid. I wanted to talk for a couple of minutes about success.

At the start of every year, we all go into it with all of these different goals and ambitions and resolutions that we have and whatever else, but really, at the pinnacle of it, we all are kind of just like, I want to do better. I want to be a better person. 

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I want to make progress. I want to reach a goal. I want to get a promotion at work. There are all these things but, typically, our goals and resolutions are based around wanting to have success in some area of our lives. 

“Success is a climb. It’s not this destination where you get there and then you’re there forever. You’re always going to be reaching for that next thing or headed for somewhere else.”

The problem with comparison

Success is gonna look different for all of us. And I think that we tend to get into a lot of trouble when we begin to compare our version of success with someone else’s and try to frame what success means to us through the lens of someone else’s life.

I know that I end up doing that a lot, even just looking on Instagram or when I have a girl’s night and talk to friends and hear about all the amazing things they’re doing or people that they know or jobs that they get and all of these other things. It can be really easy to see and hear what other people are doing and come back and feel like what you’ve got going on in your life is not good enough or that you haven’t found success yet in any area of your life. Or maybe you haven’t made it as far as you need to be by now at this point in your life.

You know, I think that we all have this tendency to kind of want to jump ahead in our life. We look at where we’re at, and we want to be more or further along than what we already are, you know?

When we’re teens, we want to be older than we are. Now, I want to be younger, but that’s neither here nor there. Right now, I think we all kind of — especially as we get closer to tax season — we want to be richer than we are. It’s easy to want to be more popular or more successful. But what we forget is in every single area of life, whether that’s in your relationships or in your work, is that success is a climb. It’s not this destination where you get there and then you’re there forever. You’re always going to be reaching for that next thing or headed for somewhere else.

Appreciate the journey

Life is like climbing a ladder. You start at the bottom, and you keep moving up. Every season of life is like another rung of that ladder. But if we don’t actually appreciate the journey of the climb, we’ll never appreciate it when we get to the top because there will always be some other rung or some other level or some other challenge or difficulty that we’re gonna have to reach for. If we’re not enjoying the process, we’re not gonna enjoy our lives.

Success is a climb. Success is a ladder. The reality is, on those bottom rungs, in those seasons of your life where it feels like you’re underground like you’re really digging in the dirt, you might be working hard on things that people don’t see. Most people won’t see you. You may not get acknowledgment or a call out. You may not get a lot of comments on your social media post, whatever. But that’s okay. Just because you’re not getting recognition doesn’t mean that the work you’re doing isn’t worth it or that it doesn’t matter. 

“Success is gonna look different for all of us, and I think that we tend to get into a lot of trouble when we begin to compare our version of success with someone else’s and try to frame what success means to us through the lens of someone else’s life.”

If you’re not getting recognition yet, if people aren’t seeing you, that can actually be a good thing. Sometimes, in obscurity, it gives us more permission to try new things. Obscurity makes it easier for us to get a little messy. Obscurity means that we can learn and grow without a lot of eyes on us. Because as you climb the ladder, there’s more pressure, there are more eyes, there’s more of all of those things.

I also think it’s important for us to not compare what rung someone else is on their ladder, to where we’re at. We’re all at different parts of the climb, and every step of our climb is going to be different. So if someone else is further beyond you in some area, that doesn’t mean that you’re behind; that means that your ladder is different. That means that your journey is different, and it’s important to appreciate the journey that you’re on.

Your permission to relax

So, I don’t know. That’s just a couple of thoughts and things that I’ve really been thinking about and, honestly, challenging myself with. Because I find that I enter these times, these weeks, months, whatever, where I just feel so bogged down with where I feel like I should be without taking the time to really step back and acknowledge how far I’ve already come. I need to just take a deep breath, relax, and enjoy the journey.

That’s my little bit of encouragement for you guys today. You don’t always need to be reaching for the top, because there’s a lot of pressure up there, and honestly, you may not be ready for it yet. If you’re not there yet, you’re not ready for it, and there are situations and things and people and experiences that you will encounter on the way, on the journey, that will help you when you get to the top. 

“Just because you’re not getting recognition doesn’t mean that the work you’re doing isn’t worth it or that it doesn’t matter. ”

When you’re at the top, there are a lot of eyes on you, a lot of people are watching. It’s a lot easier to fall, so I want you to enjoy the journey. Enjoy the place that you’re at right now on the way to where you’re going to get the most out of it that you possibly can, to embrace the people that are on the journey with you and make the most of it. 

Don’t compare yourself to where you think you should be by now. Don’t compare yourself to where your best friend is at or where your coworker is at or whatever. Every single part of your journey is intentional. There’s a reason that you’re facing what you’re facing right now. Take a deep breath and remind yourself today to enjoy the journey. Success is a climb, and you’ll get there eventually.

That’s all I’ve got for you guys today. I hope this is helpful for you. Shoot me an Instagram anytime. let me know what you think of the podcast, what you’d love to hear about. My Instagram name is @abbyflynnco, and I will see you guys next time on The Joy Rally Podcast. Peace! 

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