Why Some Breakthroughs Take Time

The Illusion of Instant Gratification

There was a time, early in my business, when I felt like I was doing everything right. I was showing up, putting in the work, trying every strategy I had learned, and still—I had nothing to show for it. Three and a half years passed before I finally saw the fruits of my labor. Three and a half years of wondering if I was wasting my time. If I was missing something.

If success was simply out of reach for me.

In today’s world, that kind of waiting feels almost unthinkable. We live in an era where everything is instant—instant food, instant information, instant entertainment, instant connection. We are conditioned to believe that effort and reward should be a one-to-one equation.

Put in X amount of work, receive Y amount of success. Do something right, get something in return. But life doesn’t work like that. The things that truly matter—the things that last—are built over time, through patience, repetition, and trust in the unseen.

Somewhere along the way, we forgot this.

For most of human history, we had to wait. If you wanted to eat, you had to grow or hunt your food. If you wanted to learn, you had to practice for years. If you wanted to create, you had to work at it, refining and refining until it became something real.

But today, we don’t have to wait for much of anything. We’ve been conditioned—trained, even—to expect things to happen instantly. It starts in childhood: we do well on a test, we get a gold star. We behave, we get a treat. We learn quickly that effort equals immediate reward. And now, as adults, we carry that same expectation into every part of our lives—our careers, our relationships, our personal growth.

And when things don’t happen fast enough?

We panic. We assume we’re failing.

We quit before we’ve given something enough time to unfold.

But here’s the truth: the process and the journey is the point.

Everything that truly matters takes time. Mastery takes time. Building something meaningful takes time. Transformation takes time. And the illusion of instant gratification has disconnected us from reality—it has made us impatient, restless, and in many ways, spiritually unwell.

We have become addicted to the quick fix, the dopamine hit of a notification, the immediate rush of a reward. But that addiction is making us weaker, not stronger.

When I look back at those first few years in my business, I realize now that every moment of uncertainty, every small effort that felt like it was leading nowhere, was actually building something. It was shaping me, strengthening me, teaching me how to hold what I was asking for.

And when the breakthrough finally came, it wasn’t because I had suddenly done something different—it was because I had finally given it enough time.

So if you’re in a season where things aren’t happening as fast as you’d like—if you feel like you’re doing everything right and still not seeing the reward—trust me when I say: keep going. What you’re building is real, even if you can’t see it yet. The most powerful things in life are the ones that take time.

Stay patient.

Stay steady.

Stay in the work.

Everything is unfolding exactly as it’s meant to be.

Now ask yourself:

Where in your life are you rushing the process instead of trusting it?

And where have you tied your worth to receiving a reward, rather than simply showing up?

When we move at the speed of spirit, not the speed of algorithms, something shifts. Our nervous systems settle. Our intentions deepen. Our work becomes prayer.

This is something I often witness in my role as a spiritual guide and mentor—the sacred tension between showing up and letting go. Between effort and surrender. In holistic integrative coaching, we hold space for that space in between—where the old has been released but the new hasn’t arrived yet. That space is where the magic happens.

Sometimes you don’t need another strategy. Perhaps you need an energy cleanse—to clear out the noise, the self-doubt, the burnout that’s disguised as motivation.

Sometimes you don’t need a plan. You need a pause. Sometimes the breakthrough is already happening... but it's just a little slow for your timeline.

But trust this: what is meant for you will not pass you by. And the person you’re becoming in the process is just as important as the result you’re waiting for.

Wellness, in this work, is not a state of perfection—it’s a devotion to the process. It’s the willingness to be present, even when it’s slow, even when it’s silent.

And in that space, we learn to honor the journey, not just the arrival.

If you know a person who might benefit from this message, please feel free to share and amplify.

WITH LOVE,

Hasani