Everybody has a time in their lives when it is easier to stop than to keep on. The effort feels invisible. The outcomes appear to be delayed. The dream that used to excite you is now draining. If you are reading this at a time when you want to give up, know this: it does not indicate weakness. It indicates that you have been toting a burden for a while.

Typically, people don’t give up because they can’t. It occurs as a result of their emotional exhaustion, discouragement, and fatigue. The mind begins to murmur harmful ideas when development is slow and failures keep happening. Thoughts like “Maybe I’m not good enough,” “Maybe this isn’t meant for me,” and “Maybe I should just stop” are not based in reality, but rather on tiredness.

Before you make a decision, allow yourself to relax. Your adventure does not end at this point.

Why Is It Hurting So Much Now?

Your concern is the reason it aches. Being apathetic doesn’t hurt. Failure only hurts when you really care about the goal. Your disappointment is evidence that your dream matters. That is strong enough on its own.

SEE ALSO: How to Regain Motivation After Emotional Exhaustion (Without Burning Out Again)

The majority of individuals don’t realize how emotionally taxing growing can be. Our wars are fought in private, but we loudly celebrate our victories. The pressure to succeed, the rejections, the quiet comparisons, and the late nights all add up. They get heavier with time.

Often, it’s not because you can’t go on that makes you want to give up. It’s because you haven’t slept for too long and have been powerful. Burnout results from strength without recovery. Burnout can also pass for failure.

Try posing the question, “Have I allowed myself to recover?” rather than, “Why am I not succeeding?”

Before it becomes obvious, progress is invisible.

The time lag between effort and observable outcomes is one of the most annoying aspects of any journey. Our society rewards quick results. However, this is rarely the case with true transformation.

Consider the growth process of a tree. Before anything remarkable rises to the surface, its roots spread out underground for months or even years. It appears as though nothing is going on from the outside. However, stability is developing beneath.

SEE ALSO: 3 Easy Ways to Accelerate Your Personal Development

Your efforts have the same effect. These are the origins of every talent you develop, every error you learn from, and every time you persevere in the face of uncertainty. They are fortifying you in ways that are not readily quantifiable.

It’s common to judge your obvious results while neglecting your invisible growth when you feel like giving up.

Before it becomes noisy, growth is silent.

You are building, not falling behind.

The temptation to stop is heightened by comparison. Your own pace seems insufficient when you observe others moving more quickly. However, you are contrasting your inner turmoil with the highlights of someone else’s life.

Their efforts, years of unappreciated work, and failures are what you cannot see. Every successful individual experiences a period of time when nothing seems to be working. The fact that they never felt like quitting up is not what makes them different. What’s different is that they persisted.

You are not in the rear. Your timeline is on track. By comparison, the urge to “catch up” is fabricated. Making progress is a personal experience. It isn’t a race.

The fact that you continue to attempt despite your self-doubt is evidence of resilience.

SEE ALSO: How to Be Your Best Self: 20 Things You Can Do Everyday

Resting Doesn’t Mean Giving Up

Sometimes pausing rather than giving up is what you really need. The difference between stopping permanently and taking a step back to recover is significant.

It is hopelessness that leads to quitting. Wisdom is the source of rest.

Give yourself some room if you’re tired. Think. Change your approach. Change your speed. However, do not mistake short-term exhaustion for long-term incapacity. Your success in the future cannot be accurately predicted by your emotional state right now.

Those who never break are not the most successful. They are the ones who shatter, pick themselves up, and come back stronger.

Your future self will be grateful.

Imagine yourself reflecting on this precise moment years from now. At this moment, everything seemed uncertain. This is the point at which you nearly stopped.

Will you later regret continuing? Or are you going to regret leaving too soon?

The pain subsides. There is still growth. Your patience, fortitude, self-control, and emotional fortitude are being shaped by the hardship you are going through. These attributes are worth more than quick fixes.

Today, one tiny step will suffice. You don’t have to figure out every problem. All you have to do is not give up entirely.

Conclusion: Your Story Does Not End Here

This is just a chapter, not the entire book, so keep that in mind if you need to read it when you want to give up.

It’s okay to feel exhausted. It’s acceptable to feel demoralized. But fleeting feelings don’t define you. Your current storm will pass, but the strength you develop will endure.

SEE ALSO: 10 Positive Affirmations to Reduce Stress and Increase Happiness

Do not give up when you are unsure. Never base a long-term choice on transient discomfort.

Remain a bit longer. Give it another go. Go ahead and take another step.

You will eventually look back on this phase and see that it was actually a time when you grew stronger rather than when you failed.

The Mountain Is You – Brianna Wiest – Profound psychological understanding of emotional suffering, self-defeating behavior, and human development. Excellent for readers who experience internal conflict.