Slow and Steady Wins the Race

Slow and steady wins the race.

I’m reading a book at the moment which is all about the secrets to success.

It claims that having talent is not the biggest factor is becoming successful; but that passion and perseverance is absolutely KEY.

This makes me think about my own journey – coming from a place where I was literally a shell of a person, who felt ashamed of her past and anxious about the future; to a place where I am successful in my work pursuits, confident, hopeful and positive about my future, and proud of my battle scars… because my imperfections make me who I am (and I love that person).

Because of my mental health diagnosis, I have had to be extremely resilient to get where I am now… because I’m constantly being challenged. Challenged by having difficult mental health days, challenged by my own vulnerabilities and more than anything…. challenged by stigma – which I come across Every. Single. Day.

Because of my constant challenges, success has taken me a little bit longer to achieve. As many people know, recovery journeys are not linear, they are two steps forward, one step back and sometimes 1 step forward, 3 steps back. This can become very frustrating, and almost gets you to the point sometimes, that you want to give up. This is where perseverance comes in.

I have had to persevere along my chosen path, time and time again. I have had to have downright determination and downright grit. It has taken a lot of courage and a lot of resolve – to be consistently up against other people’s believes about the limits of what I can achieve – to be up against disapproval and judgement from many people in my day to day life. I have learnt not to care about many things that normal people care about. I only care about a few key things.

The first thing I care a lot about, and that keeps me strong and striving forwards – is my own growth and the pursuit of the things that I am passionate about.

The other thing I care about is my health.

As long as I stay healthy, and as long as I am always striving towards my goals and becoming a better, more empowered individual… I am happy and fulfilled.

So, along with passion and perseverance… the reason I am where I am today… is because I have chosen very carefully what I care about – and I have decided, very firmly, what I don’t give a shit about (the main one being other peoples opinions).

So my advice to anyone who may want it… is this.

Make growth and learning your biggest priority – and you will naturally find success in ways you may never have imagined. Equally, make following your passion your biggest priority, and you will find success in ways you have never dreamed of.

But don’t be discouraged by setbacks, and challenges. As long as you learn to be gritty and strong, you will be ok. As long as you choose carefully what you do and don’t care about, you will be fine.

And remember…. Perseverance is everything.

Love Kate xx