Why it Takes 18 Months for Some Dreams to Come True

There's a principle of success called the "J Curve".  I learned this from Jim Rohn.

When you make a decision to achieve something and you take steps moving forward - no matter how small - it takes 18 months for the fruit of your decision to show up.

And the in between time feels like nothing is happening.

This is the "J Curve," the 18 month principle - the Slight Edge in action!  

I have experienced the truth of this again and again.  I've watched my friends and family members experience it...and pointed it out to them.  

Once I became aware of the 18 month rule, I see it everywhere:

- in a podcast of someone talking about how it took him 18 months of blogging before he "finally" made a success of it.

- a business women expressing that "a year and a half ago I made a decision to take a different path in my career..." and boom!

And the process isn't anything extraordinary, but the result is!

The only thing you have to do is keep going and stay out of your own way as much as you can.  As soon as self-doubt pops up, zap it and take the next step.  Some days the next step is just buying that interesting business book at Barnes and Noble or deciding not to become engrossed in that new time-sucking TV series.  

My first worthwhile 18 month transformation was just based on the decision that I wanted to do more with my life.  Wow, I do an amazing number of amazing things today and I enjoy all of it.  I didn't even know what steps to take in the beginning!  And my life didn't dramatically change the following day, week, or month.  But my mental direction changed and that was enough.

Just take any moment when you were in the middle of something significant, something that set that stage of your life apart from the past.  I bet you if you can look back 18 months, you will find that it was all a result of a change of attitude, of mindset, of an "I had it" decision that you made.

If you're forging ahead and taking the steps and if you're feeling like what you're doing isn't working, just remember - it takes 18 months...you're not there yet.