Learn to love the work.

My life, much like most people’s lives, is bookmarked by big achievements.

You graduate high school, you get into college, you graduate college, get a job, get married, have a kid, retire, etc.

These are all important milestones and worthy of celebration.

But recently, I have been paying more attention to what happens in between these big achievements.

The transition periods where, seemingly, all the work is done.

It’s during these periods when we have to show up regularly and sit down and grind. Where we have to develop practices and systems that help us do the work as well as navigate the distractions that are such an integral part of our lives.

These transition spaces can often go unnoticed, but I feel like they are the more noteworthy parts of our lives.

For the past few years, many people have taken notice of Jerry Seinfeld’s documentary Comedian. If you haven’t seen this doc, it goes behind the scenes to show what it takes Jerry to craft a one-hour comedy special, joke by joke.

It’s a great doc and one of the things I’ve learned from it is that I love Jerry’s process more than I love his comedy.

His work ethic, his sense of integrity, and his creative process. All of these things I have mad respect for. But he’s not my favorite comedian. It’s OK comedy, in my opinion, but I laugh out loud harder at Chappelle.

My point here is that we get to witness his transition from the last episode of his incredibly successful sitcom career to building a whole new comedy routine, bit by bit. The space in between two major achievements.

So, if you’re in that messy middle like I am, take a moment to stop and notice all that you’re putting into this transition period. You’re showing up every day, doing the work, adhering to all the little systems and practices you’ve put in place so you can get the thing done.

Transitions don’t always feel as good as the milestones, but I’d argue they are just as, if not more important than the big accomplishments.

It’s not sustainable to rely on the victories to get you through the day-to-day grind. You have to learn to love the transitions if you want to do your thing for long.