We all go through periods of perspiration without measurable results. We all go through moments when an uphill climb feels never ending.

This can take various forms in the life of an author. For instance:

• If you’re an indie, you feel like you will never make enough in royalties to put out your next book
• There is no point finishing that new draft because no one is ever going to read it anyway
• If you’re seeking an agent, you feel like you’ll never get one; it’s rejection after rejection
• You are blogging and blogging, and no one is reading
• Social media algorithms are strangling your marketing and networking attempts online

My best advice in this instance is twofold:

• FIRST, calmly and sincerely evaluate whether you can, or should, adjust your approach regarding the place where you aren’t seeing results like you wanted.
• SECOND, just keep plodding along. Work consistently. Keep at it. Even if no one pays attention. Even if it feels like no one would care if they DID notice.

Success very rarely happens overnight, and Henry Ford once defined luck as “what happens where preparation meets opportunity” (paraphrase, perhaps).

Lay your foundation. You can’t build success with the slow, back-breaking work of that foundation.

Celebrate the small victories when they come. Learn from others how are further along the journey than you are.

Recognize that emotions of frustration and impatience are human and valid, but they don’t tell the whole story, and you can’t let them define you.

Recognize that you need to act against the lies that change and eventual success are out of reach.

Sit with the discomfort. Stretch and grow. Try new approaches. Keep producing, posting, writing, creating, connecting. Don’t give up because you aren’t seeing results right now.

Sometimes, it’s about the journey: what we learn as we battle for success, how the battle humbles us, how it makes us stronger.

Praise God for that!