Carter M.
Photography by Reese Niccolls
If you’re reading this, show up again tomorrow.
66 days to build a habit, 90 days to break it. 200 hours to become proficient at a new skill, 5,000 to master it. 600 hours to be conversational in a new language, 1,000 hours learning an instrument, and 500 hours to draw.
I’m not asking you to compete in the Olympics, become fluent in French, or be able to play Vivaldi with your eyes closed. All I ask is for 20 more minutes tomorrow, the next day, and then another 20 the day after that.
Becoming the person you want to see in the mirror, I’ve learned, follows two simple statutes: 1) Not giving up, and more importantly, 2) Not giving up on yourself.
As I settled into campus life and began mapping out the goals I hoped to accomplish over the course of my four years, I quickly encountered the anxiety that comes with any ambitious goal. Standing at the starting line and envisioning the marathon ahead introduced me to the vice grip of fear that can ensnare the dreamer. A fear that convinces us it is safer to stop before the race has even begun.
More important than not giving up, however, stands one doctrine.
Our generation was never taught how to give ourselves grace. We have been raised in a culture that often portrays success as rapid, effortless, and readily attainable. When the process becomes difficult, we are led to abandon our goals and to move on. I challenge that assumption. The realities presented to us through social media are curated to conceal the years of failure, repetition, and uncertainty that precede achievement. Behind every success story is the same unglamorous foundation: years of consistency, discipline, and grit.
We have been given a pacifier called immediacy.
Immediate gratification through typing to interact, clicking to shop, or tapping to be fed. It has rid us of our most innate and valuable human trait. The ability to learn, adapt, and change. We were created as practitioners. Unique creatures that can reform who we are, what we do, and how we think if we just show up day after day. So, we must reject the anxiety and fear that show up when we set a goal. Instead, we ought to practice grace by refusing to give up on ourselves.
So tomorrow, show up. Just for 20 minutes.
Then try it again the following day.
You would be amazed at what you are capable of when you refuse to give up on yourself.
Carter M., Syracuse University
Connect With Us
To follow IfYoureReadingThis at Syracuse on Instagram, get in touch with our chapter, and learn about more resources available to Syracuse students, visit our chapter’s homepage.
AUTHOR CONTACT
This author has opted to allow readers who resonate with their story to contact them. If you would like to speak to the author of this letter about their experience, please use the form below.
