I often liken this journey we call "life" to a train in motion. It can apply just as easily to a business, learning an instrument, a language, etc.



You start out really slow because you're hauling a big load and the engines can only accelerate so fast. But it gradually gets faster and faster. Soon enough it's cruising along at 80 mph, or whatever its top safe speed may be.



The analogy is obvious.



Let's take starting a business, just for a frame of reference. It starts out slow, but working at it just a little bit each day, gradually you gain momentum. A few customers walk in the door (or visit your site) one day, none the next, a bunch the day after, and so on. If you're wise, soon enough you have a steady stream of customers. Of course it takes time, but it works - because you put the fuel in the tank (work) and just waited while it gained momentum.



That's all well and good, but let's take the train analogy a bit further.



Let's say the train is cruising along and all of a sudden, the conductor sees a dead cow on the tracks in front of him. Let's say that this conductor isn't the brightest bulb on the scoreboard - you know, got a full six-pack, just doesn't have the plastic thing that holds it all together - and he doesn't stop the train. He just plows ahead, hits the cow, and keeps trucking along as though nothing happened.



Or let's say that Mother Nature decides it's time to dump 18 inches of snow one day, and with high winds, the snow banks are 10 feet high.



Kind of hard to get a train to any speed with ten foot snow drifts, right?







When we gain momentum in whatever we're doing, be it a business, a degree, a job, etc., we're going to inevitably hit an obstacle of some kind. It could be not passing an audition, it could be a relationship breaking up, it could be downsizing. You fill in the blank.



This is where our ego tries to take control of the situation.



Our ego says, "Ignore that divorce, just focus on your business."



"You've got to keep going. You've got goals to achieve!'



We become like that dim-witted conductor.

The gates are down, the lights are flashing, but there's no train coming.

We just keep plowing ahead, and ignore the need to stop the train, get the cow off the track.



Other times, Nature says, "Honey, you aint goin nowhere today. Why don't you just sit for a spell and have some coffee." What can you do? Fight nature?



Our ego says, "Worry about that later. Think of all the puppies that will die if you don't keep going?!"



Having a mission, a purpose for our lives is great. Playing the long game, having a mindset starting slow and gaining momentum slowly but surely is even better.



But you've got to clear the track when you see an obstacle. It takes time, and it might require you to check your ego at the door and get the help you need to see clearly and move ahead on a clear track.