The Day Before The Breakthrough Looks Identical To The Day Before You Quit

Working towards something that not only takes a long time but also requires a level of dedication, grit, and the ability to repeat the same day over and over again with no signs of progress is one of the hardest journeys you can embark on.

This title is one of the most powerful quotes I have heard in a long time. It reminds you that, although today, just like every other day so far, didn’t provide any signs that you’re any closer to achieving your goal, you could still be 24 hours away from everything changing all at once.

This isn’t a sexy topic, therefore, it’s not one you hear very often. Unlike almost every other form of advice on how to achieve your goals, a reminder that you simply need to keep going regardless of how boring and repetitive it might be is not exactly a lesson that can be profited from.

However, regardless of how many people are saying it, it’s still true that the very first day could look identical to the last, no matter how many days come in between.

It could mean years, years of just doing the same thing over and over again, which, although it may look more like a sign of failure to everyone else, means the total opposite to you.

But if it’s true that any day during the struggle could be the last, I suppose the only question left unanswered is how. How do you make sure you can reach the breakthrough?

There cannot and will never be a single answer to this question. Who you are, what you’re doing, why you’re doing it and even all the way down to what kind of parents you had all come into play and determine what you need to keep you going.

Therefore, any form of direct advice is pointless. I would, however, like to offer a shift in perspective of sorts, a way of seeing the pursuit of your goal from a whole new angle.

Who Will You Be?

Instead of asking yourself what you’ll get when you win, ask yourself who you’ll become by playing.

The truth is, when you dig deep enough, no outcome of a goal is worth years spent with your head in the dirt, not really. So if you’re trying to achieve something merely for the literal external reward, you’re probably going to quit before ever getting there.

Instead, you need to find a reason for the work itself to be worthwhile, without it only being the vehicle to get you somewhere.

You are that reason, who you become is a much more fulfilling and a more worthy goal than what you get, and the work itself is what’s going to change you, not the reward.

I’m not saying you shouldn’t want an outcome, I’m saying that on days when repeating the last just seems like too much to handle, reminding yourself of who you’ve already become, and who you’ll be at the end of it gives you an alternative reason and an extra push. 

I suppose another question you can ask yourself is: Would I rather be at the end of my time, not have succeeded at my goal, but knowing I gave it my all and become the person I knew I could be? Or be happy that I lived a comfortable life, but know deep down I never had the courage to give it a go?

If it’s the latter, then continuing to put in the reps is the only way forward.

The answers to these questions do not make the reps any easier, but they do serve as a form of respite from the constant mental torture we can sometimes inflict upon ourselves.

It is not the difficulty of our work that makes us quit, it is our interpretation of the work and the feelings that come from it that inevitably destroy us, and if only we can get a hold of that, we give ourselves a fighting chance.

So on the days when you feel like doing it the least, remember that you’re always one day away, and tomorrow could be that day.