We’ve all heard the phrase “life is a journey.” It might sound like something from a motivational poster, but it holds real weight. Life isn’t about arriving at some perfect final version of yourself—it’s about moving forward, evolving, and becoming who you were meant to be, step by step.
Too often, we let the distance between where we are and where we want to be paralyze us. We dream of becoming something—an astronaut, a teacher, a writer, a leader—and then freeze because it feels so far away. But the truth is, you don’t need to leap to the finish line.
You just need to take the next step.
And when you do?
Persist. Persistence is everything. Anyone can be inspired for a day. But those who keep showing up—on the boring days, the hard days, the “this feels pointless” days—those are the ones who make it. Persistence turns a dream into a direction, and a direction into progress.
I knew a little boy once who used to tell everyone he’d been to Canada, Mexico, Europe—even though he hadn’t been anywhere at all. He wasn’t lying to deceive. He was simply claiming the future. In his young mind, he knew he’d go someday. And over the years, he did. Not all at once, not without setbacks, but little by little he managed to visit most of the places he dreamed of—or had innocently bragged about before he even knew how hard the journey might be.
That’s the power of vision—and sticking with it.
But here’s the part too many people forget:
judge only yourself. Compare yourself not to others, but to who you were yesterday. The only scoreboard that matters is the one you keep for yourself. Are you better today than you were last year? Have you pushed forward, even a little? That’s growth. That’s success.
Everyone’s pace is different.
Your journey isn’t supposed to look like anyone else’s. It’s yours. Own it.
So dream boldly. Persist fiercely. And measure your progress only against the person you were before—because that’s the one race worth running.
