While we’re on this journey called life..
As we strive for more.
As we seek out knowledge.
As we pursue progress every day.
As we do our best to become the best versions of ourselves.
As we chase perfection…
There’s one key idea that should never get lost in the process:
“Always remember that most of life is lived in the middle, but most of the advice that you will get or read about is written for the beginning or the end.”
The beginning is exciting.
You’re full of energy and enthusiasm.
Everything feels new.
Every small win or incremental progress feels like a breakthrough.
You think you’re closer than you actually are.
The end is celebrated.
It’s glamorous. It’s mission accomplished.
Goal achieved.
Recognition earned.
That’s the part everyone sees and focuses on.
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What gets lost in the shuffle is the space between those two points. That space is wide. A chasm even, and most people underestimate just how wide it really is.
That space is the middle.
That’s the trenches. That’s the place in which you have to get it “out the mud.” This is the phase that tests your resilience.
This is the part where you’re no longer just starting, but you’re nowhere near finished. You’ve made progress, you’ve learned lessons, and you’ve even built some momentum, but nothing feels complete. Nothing feels clear and the results don’t match the effort yet.
This is where the usual advice shows up:
“It’s a marathon, not a sprint.”
“Stay patient.”
“Keep going.”
And while that’s all true… it’s also very surface-level. It helps but it doesn’t tell the full story.
Let’s zoom in.
Please note that this isn’t about advice either, or even about motivation.
This is about awareness. You should know what the middle looks like. Once you understand what the middle actually looks like, you can work to stop misinterpreting it. Once you know what it looks and feels like, you can really take it for what it is…just a part of the process.
The middle has four core characteristics:
1. It’s repetitive.
You’ll do the same things over and over again with little to no visible payoff.
No novelty. No excitement. Just execution.
2. Progress is slow.
Two steps forward, one step back.
Three steps forward, two steps back.
It rarely feels like clean, linear growth.
3. It’s quiet.
No applause. No recognition. No validation.
Just you… and the work.
4. It’s very long.
Everyone has middles of varying lengths, but however long the middle is, from each individual's perspective, it’s going to feel like an extremely long time.
With those four core characteristics in mind, you must also fully accept that:
You can’t rush or skip the middle.
The process is the process.
When you’re building anything meaningful, whether it’s your career, your income, your identity, your life, the middle is not a phase to endure. It’s the phase that actually produces the result.
The beginning gets the attention.
The end gets the recognition.
The middle does the work.
People don’t tend to fail at the start.
They tend to fade in the middle.
Not because they aren’t capable, but because they misread or misunderstood what the middle is supposed to look and feel like.
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