Trusting the process can be difficult, especially if you are anxious or an over-thinker like myself. I think about ‘trusting the process’ more when I’m struggling. This is probably because it is a term often used when one is feeling low. I would often see it on self-help videos or online (like you are seeing now). If I am being honest, I hated this term. I didn’t want to trust the process. I wanted to control my future. This, of course, is impossible to do. So one day, when I was tired of the failings and feeling bad for myself, I decided it was time to actually try and trust the process.
Trusting the process may be different to everyone. If you are religious, it could be trusting God’s timing/plan. To others, it could be trusting the Universe. Whatever it is, trusting the process can be difficult, especially when you are feeling down. Here are some ways on how to trust the process, even when you are struggling.
Start by defining your goals and what you are looking for
By this I mean identifying what you are trying to achieve and writing them down. This does not have to be one thing, it could be a variety of different things such as career, relationships, buying a house, travelling. Anything you want. Once you have written these things down, start researching how you can achieve these goals.
When you have researched, you can slowly start working towards the goals. During this process you will come to understand that there may still be set-backs. This does not mean you give up, instead you learn from the setbacks and try again. Remember that success does not come overnight. A lot of the successful people you see also had setbacks and failings to get to where they are now.
Reflect on your journey
If you had asked me several years ago where I would see myself, it would not be here. I am not trying to make this a sob story, but sometimes life does not turn out the way you think it will. That does not mean you can’t achieve your goals, it just means your timeline is different from others. If you are in a phase in your life where you are not where you thought you’d be, maybe do a bit of reflection.
This could be re-evaluating your goals, or re-evaluating the steps you have been taking. During this time, look at the things that have gone well too. It can be hard to find hope when you are struggling, but often there are things that have gone well without us realising. We are so focused on the failures that we forget about our successes, especially the small wins in life. Write these small wins down and see for yourself how far you have come.
Learn to let things be
I know this can be difficult, and it may not be something you want to hear when you are struggling, but sometimes things just happen. As someone who likes to control things in their life due to the fear of the unknown, I know first hand that you can try hard to succeed and things will still go wrong.
Sometimes the things I have failed at have brought on better things for me. For example, working in jobs I didn’t think I’d be doing, lead to me to meet incredible people. Not getting an office role straight out of University lead me to try Personal Training, something I probably would not have done. What I am trying to say is that although right now you may be looking at your life thinking things are going badly, these ‘bad things’ may be redirecting you to the life you actually need right now.
Final thoughts
It can be hard to trust the process. It might feel that a lot of things may be going wrong, but remember that you have overcome all of the bad things in your life before and you will overcome this too. As previously said, everyones timeline is different. Just because you have not achieved your goals right now, it does not mean you won’t. You need to continue working towards your goals and ambitions and just take everyday as it comes. Stop rushing for overnight successes. Everything will eventually workout 🙂
