Purpose in Progress: Redefining What It Means To 'Make It'

There’s a strange weight to the phrase making it, as if it lives somewhere far ahead of us, shimmering like a mirage on the horizon. A finish line no one can see, yet everyone seems to be running toward. Fast. Fearlessly. Photogenically. Meanwhile, you’re just trying not to burn breakfast or lose yourself before the day even begins. And lately, I’ve been having these dramatic little moments where I look around at my life and think: “Wow… look at me.. trying to build a podcast and an entire brand in the most overcrowded space known to humanity.” Like girl, who do I truly think I am? The algorithm’s chosen one? Absolutely not. Absolutely not. But then something softer settles in my chest, a reminder, almost whispered: Even the ocean is crowded…and still, every wave finds its own rhythm.. So maybe I’m just another wave, but I’m moving with intention, with my own energy, toward a place that feels like mine.

And the people meant to meet me there? They will. The ones who feel like my community will click in slowly, naturally, like cosmic Legos finding their pattern in the dark.

So yes, the space is saturated.. But I’m still going to show up. Because something in me said,“This is you, babe.” And I’m listening.

The Lie of the Highlight Reel

We live in a world obsessed with the surface. The glossy, filtered, perfectly curated sliver of someone else’s reality. We scroll through finished chapters while judging ourselves for our rough drafts. But most of what we call “success”…is just the visible tip of a massive, unseen iceberg. What we don’t see are the late-night doubts, the tiny victories no one celebrates, the abandoned drafts, the quiet breakthroughs, the moments we wanted to quit but didn’t.

The world applauds the eruption, never the pressure building beneath. So we forget that growing doesn’t always look cinematic. Sometimes it looks like stillness. Sometimes it looks like confusion. Sometimes it looks like trying again, and again, and again until something finally shifts.

Invisible Growth Still Counts

Progress doesn’t always shout. Sometimes it whispers.

It whispers when you respond with patience instead of panic. When you forgive yourself faster. When you’re kinder than you used to be. When you show up, even half-heartedly, instead of disappearing. When you write one sentence instead of none.

These are the quiet triumphs (the soft wins) the kind the world overlooks but your soul remembers. And meanwhile, your brain is rewiring itself in the background. Neuroplasticity humming beneath the surface, gently carving new pathways. Every tiny, brave choice you make becomes part of your architecture. Change doesn’t always begin with fireworks. Sometimes it starts with a sigh.

Redefining “Making It”

What if “making it” isn’t a destination at all? What if it’s a feeling; a subtle alignment with who you are becoming? Not the announcement. Not the milestone. Not the applause.

But the quiet knowing that you are walking toward yourself,step by imperfect step.

Success, in its truest form, might be: the peace of showing up honestly, the courage to try again, the grace to grow at your own pace.

Ask yourself gently:

• What did I do this week that made me proud, even if no one saw it?

• What small step carried me forward, even if I can’t see the results yet?

• What habit am I building that my future self will thank me for?

When you sit with these questions long enough, you realize you’ve been blooming in places you never thought to look. Growth is rarely linear. It’s a dance, sometimes elegant, sometimes clumsy, always human. The movement matters. Every tiny, imperfect inch of it.

Honoring the Quiet Wins

There is something sacred about noticing the progress the world forgets to clap for.

So here are simple ways to honor your becoming:

1. Keep a small journal of tenderness.

Not for big achievements, but for the moments you chose hope, softness, or courage when you could’ve chosen otherwise.

2. Celebrate the process, not the presentation.

Your foundation matters more than your feed.

3. Protect your rhythm.

You’re not meant to grow at someone else’s pace.Your timeline is your own constellation.

4. Honor the “boring” wins.

Sometimes brushing your teeth on a heavy day is its own kind of miracle.

5. Let humor hold you.

Laughing at your humanness isn’t dismissive, it’s alchemy.

These small practices turn the invisible into something seen, something felt, something acknowledged.

The Bigger Picture

Life isn’t asking you to arrive. It’s asking you to continue.

To keep writing the unseen chapters, to keep tending the quiet work, to keep putting your heart into spaces that feel true. To align with your spirit. Every move, every endeavor, every choice to keep going, even when your progress feels invisible, is part of your purpose unfolding. One day, you’ll look back and realize the small, unglamorous momentswere the ones that shaped you the most. You’re not behind. You’re becoming.

And that, in itself, is its own kind of “making it.”