Trust The Process

It is easy to keep doing something when you’re rewarded for it. At least it is easy if the reward is great and instant. But in life, rewards don’t come so easily, especially if it is something that is beneficial in the wrong run. We humans however tend to value instant gratification and if we keep doing it, becomes entrench in our psyche. The book “Braintenance” talks about this at length and attributes this to our psychological and physiological evolution. I just accept that it is a way for Allah to test us, to see whether we believe or not. It is easy to believe when we can see benefits from Allah’s commands when it benefits us (or the society) such as zakat that will benefit the poor or scientific benefits of praying, but it is harder to keep faith when the benefits are intangible and postponed. That’s why we have to keep faith, i.e. doa and tawakkal.

In productivity and self improvement realm, this would be something like the mantra “trust the process”. The book “Atomic Habits” and its writer often talked about 1% improvement, something so small and hardly can be seen, but will bring a 37 times improvement over the course of a year, if done everyday.
Similarly in finance, it is the compounding effect that is known as the ‘superpower’ of the rich. A small gain but continuously happening is better than a big gain but interspersed with losses. However the hard part is keeping on saving, because you might think that spending that few dollars wouldn’t bankrupt you.

I am right now preparing for an exam, and right now I am at the stage of having a hard time of believing the process. But as mentioned previously, this is not a good thing, and I should soldier on instead. To be honest I am procrastinating right now, hence why this post 🤣. I should stop now and continue reading.

Thank you for reading!