“Rome ne s’est pas faite en un jour.”
Perhaps you’re more familiar with the English version of this French proverb: “Rome wasn’t built in a day.”
While it may be a little cliché, this phrase makes a valuable point. Things of worth take time to develop.
Our world is not a very patient one. Fast food drive-thrus, instant movie streaming and same-day delivery exist because of our incessant need for speed.
And while there is nothing wrong with speed and efficiency, some things in life can’t, and shouldn’t, be rushed.
As college students we set a lot of goals. All kinds of goals. Goals as small as making it to your 8 a.m. on time to as large as eventually becoming the CEO of your favorite Fortune 500 company.
Obviously some goals are more “flexible” than others.
For example, at this stage of the semester you might be so exhausted that you’re now aiming for “B”s when less-tired you was only satisfied with “A”s. Long-term goals, such as career goals, tend to be more stable.
Undoubtedly, the amount of effort and patience necessary to achieve each goal varies depending on the scope of that goal.
But sometimes, even if you have all your ducks in a row and the road toward your goals seems straight and clear, life throws you a curveball.
It’s easy to get discouraged when we experience setbacks. When things don’t go our way, we start second-guessing our abilities, talents and dreams.
We can trick ourselves into thinking that our goals are too lofty, too much work, too far out of our reach.
And while changing goals is not always bad, we need to be careful not to give up on ourselves too quickly.
When things are seemingly going south, it’s important to keep perspective. Remember why you set the goal in the first place.
If you find yourself disappointedly coming up short of a goal, don’t just toss that dream to the wind. Take the time to evaluate what went wrong and how you can get back on track.
Don’t hold yourself to the same speed performance levels that you expect from Google, because, as the French said, “Rome wasn’t built in a day.”
