You’ve heard it said before that we should “appreciate the journey” and that “the journey is better than the destination”. It’s something that most if not every single person at the top says. However, as someone who didn’t really believe in that saying, I’m here to explain to you why it holds a ton of truth.

My experience with appreciating the journey

In relation to my content creation, when I first started I was constantly hearing this saying from the biggest content creators I watched. From Iman Ghadzi to Hamza, they were all preaching the fact that we should all appreciate the journey, and how their happiest times were when they were building something, not when they actually achieved it.

At the time I couldn’t relate, I thought “it must be nice to say that, you have millions of dollars and live a crazy life”. And honestly that’s probably what you’re thinking to when hearing the saying (I don’t blame you).

However, after hitting one of the biggest milestones a content creator could face, hitting 1 million followers (thank you guys btw), it kind of made me realize that they were right.

For so long, ever since I made my first ever account, I always thought hitting 1 million followers was something I wouldn’t reach until years down the line. In all honesty, when I started posting on instagram back in April of 2024, I wanted to hit 100k by the end of the year. Be it my surprise, I ended the year at 880k (which still amazes me). And after chasing and chasing after the beloved 1 million mark, I lost myself in the process.

Like I said, I finished at 880k at the end of the year, but what I didn’t tell you is that I was actually stuck between 850k-880k for 4 months. Going from 0-850k in the span of a couple months seemed unreal, I thought to myself that there was no way I wouldn’t hit a million by the end of 2024. However, as my head got to me and I lost track of what actually mattered (actually creating the content and focusing on where I was) I was stuck.

What got me out?

At the start of 2025 I decided to focus not on obsessing over hitting the 1 million mark, but rather focus on appreciating where I’m at, and giving as much value as possible to my audience. In return, in the 2 months of this year I was back to how I used to be. I gained 120k+ followers and hit the illusive 1 million follower mark.

Main Takeaways

If there’s anything you can learn from my experience it’s that obsessing over the final goal to the point where you lose sight of the things that actually matter, can be detrimental. Goal setting and having an end point are very important, I’m not saying to not have a destination at all, but obsessing over that end point will not serve you as much as being appreciative and grateful for where you are now.

Building something will always be more fun than when it’s done. If you’re in that building stage, or “the journey” I recommend you to try to be more appreciate of the current moment. Learn to be more grateful for what you have now.

A practice that has helped me do this, is to gratitude journal. I journal every single morning when I wake up, simply writing down 5 things I am grateful for. It could be something as simple as having roof over my head, to something as complex as the relationships I am developing.

The journey in pursuit of something great is so important. You will face hardships and a lot of up and downs, but it will be worth it in the end. Learn to be present, and learn to appreciate everything you are doing now as you will never be this young again.

As always, I’m wishing you nothing but the best.

Sincerely,

Themindsetmagnet