Let’s all take a moment to admit one valid truth: We all want to be successful and we want to get there FAST! It is human nature to want to bypass all of the obstacles, struggles and ‘growing pains’ and soar right to the top. No one likes to hear, “One day that will be you…. just be patient, give it time….it will happen when its meant to….etc.”

As kids, we were in the race of our lives to grow up. If we could just be 13, then I can do this….when I turn 18, then I can have that….and then when we make it to 21, life will be perfect.

I can’t help but notice a life long broken record trend:

We tend to focus on all that we don’t have/won’t have as opposed to all that we do have. We forget to be thankful for what is right before us because we are too concerned with what WANT to have.

As teenagers/young adults, we are in another race to get into the best and most popular schools by doing the bare minimum of required work with the end result of a high paying, high status,  long title job.  Then….once we have that job…we want to be right up at the top…making the ‘big bucks’. Known by others. Envied by others.

HOW EXHAUSTING! It truly is NO way to live! Don’t you agree!?!?!

Growing pains are necessary. They not only build your career/path with the correct building blocks….they build character! Your character, mixed with your investment into education and experience are what make for a successful business owner.

When I was in college, I had these dreams of being the next Elle Woods. I was going to be the top of my class, become a partner in a law firm by 30, and swore I would wear pink suits to court daily! (Oh, young dreams : P ) I also remember wanting to bypass certain classes, even if they would help prep me for harder ones to come. I remember trying every short cut in the book in terms of getting papers put together, dodging internship hours. I had an attitude about me that felt as though I had DONE ENOUGH…WAITED LONG ENOUGH…WAS PATIENT LONG ENOUGH….And I DESERVED to be at the top by now. There were elders of mine in the office that wanted nothing to do with me because I didn’t pay my dues. But thankfully, there was one….Alphonso. He sat me down at the ripe age of 20 and told me, “All those seemingly unimportant tasks we give you….all of those unpaid hours, failures, and rejections you are going through….its actually making you more and more successful each and every day.”

I felt my forehead scrunch into a million wrinkles…the way it does when I am beyond confused and frustrated. Why couldn’t he just tell me what I had to do to get higher up…to get there faster…wasn’t that why I was there?!!? To learn how to be the best!?

No! I wasn’t there to soar to the top with the Easy Pass….I was there to GROW…and grow slow. I was there to fail. Be rejected. Fail again. Pick myself back up. Learn consequences. Invest in education. Put in the time needed to gain experience. I was there to go through the pain of BECOMING successful…because without those growing pains I so badly wanted to bypass, I was NEVER going to be successful.

Although I chose to leave that field for NUMEROUS reasons, I will never forget those words from Alphonso. Putting in the leg work now…never giving up….even after hearing “NO” far more than hearing the words “YES”…THAT IS why I am successful today. I may not be successful when you compare me to the hundreds of top celebrity photographers out there…BUT I am successful when I am compared to NO ONE, but myself. PLEASE stop comparing yourself to others levels of success…or letting them define what success means. ONLY YOU CAN DO THAT!

I made a business out of nothing. I took a dream and made it a reality. I pay my dues to this day and STILL fail weekly at those menial tasks. I feel the pain of growth and embrace the joys of success. And you can, too.

Here is to a PAINFUL, JOYOUS, SUCCESSFUL, GROWING business journey. Know that without a doubt…you are not alone….these hard times are necessary for good times ahead…and that somewhere out there, there is an Alphonso cheering you on, too!

xoxo, Kaitlin Noel