Graham Cochrane (00:04.11)
If you feel stuck right now, this might explain everything. If you're honest for a second, do you ever feel like you're behind in life? Like everyone else is hitting milestones, growing their business, crushing their goals, and you're just trying to keep up. Maybe you've been working hard, doing everything you know to do, but it still feels like nothing is changing, like you're spinning your wheels while everyone else is sprinting.
Well, here's what most people don't realize. There are four stages that we move through before you experience breakthrough in your life. And if you're watching this, there's a very good chance you're a lot closer than you think. Today, I'm going to show you exactly where you are on that path and why this stage that you're in right now is not a sign that you're behind, but actually a sign that you're right on track.
Graham Cochrane (01:31.663)
As I'm recording this, it's the end of the year. And with the end of the year comes a mixed bag of emotions. Maybe it's celebration on a year well lived, milestones, breakthroughs, healing, accomplishments, bucket list items achieved. But for many people, the end of the year is a slap in the face on what didn't happen on
the promises you made to yourself for the beginning of the year or the hopes you had for what might be possible this year in your finances, in your business, in your relationships, in your spiritual walk, whatever it is. And then you go, wow, another year's come and gone. And I'm not much farther along than I was the year before. And sometimes that feels like a slight annoyance, but sometimes it builds up and it feels like bitterness and it feels like resentment and it feels like
how many more years are gonna have to go by before I start to see my dreams realized, before I start to see the things that I'm pursuing materialize. You ever felt that? I know I feel mixed bag every year at the end of the year. And it's easier for me to focus on the things that didn't happen than the ones that did happen. But what I wanna share with you today is something that encourages me. And I hope that encourages you because I think we...
have recency bias about how things feel and we are so tunnel vision about what we see in front of us that we have lost track of where we are in this journey of breakthrough. I really do believe you are closer to the breakthrough than you think. In the book of Galatians chapter six, Paul writes this very, very fascinating thing, verse four, pay careful attention to your own work, for then you will get the satisfaction of a job well done and you won't need to compare yourself.
to anyone else. Skip to verse seven. Don't be misled. You cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. Skip to verse nine. Let's not get tired of doing what is good at just the right time. We will reap a harvest of blessing if we don't give up. There are four stages.
Graham Cochrane (03:55.509)
I believe in breakthrough in life and they mirror what happens when you plant a seed in the ground and I love that agricultural terms like planting, harvesting, sowing, reaping are used constantly in the Bible because even in our modern age, our digital age, our AI age, plants still grow and you cannot outsmart the
process of growth that God designed for seeds and plants since the beginning of time. When you plant a seed in the ground, there is a stage that we would call planting. I would call that stage starting. For whatever it is you're trying to accomplish, you want to get married. You're starting the process of pursuing someone or finding someone to get married to. You start a business. This is literally called startup. It's a startup. You're business in startup mode.
There is a definite beginning to the process. And starting is both exciting because of the potential that lies ahead of you, just like putting a seed in the ground is exciting because of the potential of the tree that could grow or the flower that could grow or the vegetable or the fruit that could grow. There's so much potential, but there's also so much fear. What if this doesn't work? What if this is a mistake? What if I get disappointed? Especially if you have started something in the past and it didn't turn out well.
then what we do is we replay the past and project it as our future. We assume our future is gonna be a lot like our past and so we end up reliving our past. Or we get all the negative consequences of repeating that just in our minds through anxiety before it ever happens. Or even if it doesn't happen, we get the negative health side effects and mental side effects of that. So this is what we do. It's a mixture of excitement and fear.
But the starting phase is an important phase. And if you have started something, like let's say you've started your business, like even just you launched an Instagram account, a YouTube channel, a website, you started a podcast, you're starting something. Celebrate that, my friend, because most people don't start anything. But you wouldn't be feeling behind if you hadn't started something. I know you've started.
Graham Cochrane (06:22.944)
Starting is really important and I don't want to minimize starting. It takes a lot of courage to start.
Most people wait for the right circumstances to start, but those right circumstances don't exist. Solomon talks about this in Ecclesiastes, that watching the weather, waiting for the right time to plant, if you do that, you'll never plant because the right weather, the right time to plant never happens. So if you started, celebrate it. That is phase one. We think what's going to happen is once we start, once we plant that seed, we're going to get the thing we planted.
The thing that we imagined, the success, the resources, the finances will grow, the relationship will be healthy. It doesn't happen like that because the next stage is growing. And growing is both painful because literally things are being stretched and ripped. Like imagine that seed in the ground literally as it germinates, the seed is being ripped apart. There's pushing. And what's happening in the early stages of growth? It's all underground.
So it's really hard growth. You're pushing, not against air, you're pushing against dirt. So the growing stage is a grind, is what it feels like. It feels like a slog. It feels like it's not working. Okay? It feels like it's not working. Have you felt that? Like when you go to the gym and you lift weights for the first time in a long time or first time ever.
You don't feel stronger or better. You feel weaker and in pain. You wake up the next day, you feel sore. You're like, oh, my pecs are sore. My triceps are sore. My quads are sore. You're like, ow, this hurts. That is a sign that you are growing. You are ripping the muscles so they can regrow, Breaking them down so they can grow. Growing stage, nobody likes the growing stage because it's painful and there's no sign of progress. Very little sign of progress. Some of you are in that stage. But here's the stage that I think
Graham Cochrane (08:26.526)
most people are in that have gotten to their wits end that are the most frustrated, they feel the most stuck. You feel the most stuck because you've started, you know you've grown, but you don't see the breakthrough yet, you don't see what you want yet, you don't see what everyone else has yet. You are in stage three, which is invisible progress.
Graham Cochrane (08:50.508)
And I freaking hate this stage. Can I be honest with you for a second?
Graham Cochrane (08:57.582)
I feel like I'm in this stage right now if I'm being completely vulnerable with you.
This is, and I share this only after sharing Galatians six because you're gonna be like, what are you talking about, Graham?
Verse four of Galatians six, pay careful attention to your own work for then you will get the satisfaction of a job well done and you won't need to compare yourself to anyone else. So for a moment, don't compare yourself to me. I'm not comparing myself to you. Let me just speak from my experience as way of leading on vulnerability with you.
Graham Cochrane (09:38.646)
I feel like I am, and this is coming from a genuine place of humility. we're having a moment here. There's no one else to watch. It's just you and me, right? We can have this conversation. So please take this the right way. I feel like I am the world's best kept secret.
Do you feel that way sometimes? Like, if people only knew how much value you could offer them, how much you could impact them, if only more people knew about the thing I was doing, they would be blessed, the world would be better, I would feel fulfilled. You ever felt that? That's how I feel every single day. There's two reasons why. One,
My first business, the Recording Revolution, was in the music space. That business blew up so relatively fast compared to this one in terms of reach and impact. I've made more money in my personal brand than I did in the Recording Revolution and that made a lot of money, but if you want to look at impact and reach stats, I reached way more people.
in the recording revolution. So I literally am not comparing myself to other people as much as I'm comparing myself to myself in business number one. Business number one, I would do millions of views on my videos. I had 500,000 email subscribers. I had 650,000 YouTube subscribers. I was reaching millions of people monthly. So when I'm comparing myself to that,
I'm like, what's wrong with me now? I know the stuff that I drop every single week here on the show. I know the stuff that I teach my clients. I know the stuff that I put in my books. I know the stuff that I speak about on stages is life changing stuff. I know it's life changing because it's changed my life and it's changing my students' lives. Like the people that are interacting with this stuff, it's game over. So I get so frustrated that I feel largely invisible in a world where content is dominated by
Graham Cochrane (11:51.619)
fear-mongering and bait and switch, ridiculous titles and thumbnails that, hey, kudos to them, it works, it gets people to click. And I'm not saying everybody who's getting a lot of views does this. I'm not saying that at all. So I'm being really vulnerable with you today because I feel like God wants me to share this with you and I feel like this can help somebody. And you'll see how this comes together. This is how I feel.
I know I'm making progress, but I'm in stage three, invisible progress. I know I'm not invisible. That's a big reason why I'm bringing this up because you're actually not fully invisible. You're just not as visible as you'd like. The progress isn't invisible. It's just not as visible of progress as you would like. You would like to see more progress. And I totally get that. And that is totally fine. Beautiful desire to see more progress. Don't quench that desire. I'm just saying
Don't give up. You're not actually behind. You are so close to breakthrough. There is progress. It is largely invisible. It is under the surface. That is the moment that the plant or the seed or the flower or the tree is about to break through literally the dirt and become visible for you and for all to see. I don't want you to give up. So here's what happens.
when you are in this invisible progress stage. Exactly what Paul described not to do.
You stop paying careful attention to your own work because you start to pay careful attention to everybody else's work. Well, how's she doing what she's doing? Why is he doing that? Maybe I should do this. Maybe I should do that. Your eyes are on everyone else. You're following everybody on Instagram, everybody on YouTube. You read all the books. You've got all the podcasts. You're giving more of yourself to what everyone else is doing in their own work than to your own work. So you're not getting the satisfaction of a job well done. Do you know you can get the satisfaction
Graham Cochrane (13:53.911)
of a job well done without anybody seeing your progress or results. Just you. Just you and God, because God sees it all. You can be satisfied in your work even if it's not reaching the people you want it to reach. Even if you're not hitting the income goals you want to Whew! I preach to myself.
If you do this, he says in verse four, you won't need to compare yourself to anyone else. Please stop looking at what everyone else is doing. It will only drive you to insanity. And I'm speaking as one who does this all the time. I literally have to set a timer on my phone for social media. I give myself 15 minutes a day, because I can't handle more than 15 minutes a day. And that's embarrassing to say, but I just can't.
Because the moment I get on there, it's just all comparison. Man, I'm saying the same message she's saying. Why is he getting 10 times the engagement? That guy's talking about complete garbage and spreading lies and people love that stuff. What's, you know, I feel like I could be making X number of dollars by now, but I'm not. How come he's hitting that goal, she's hitting that goal? Comparison, comparison, comparison.
Okay? But then here's why we don't need to compare. Because, verse 7, don't be misled. You cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. If you are planting good, you will get good. If you are planting service, you will get service. If you are planting wisdom, you will get wisdom. Whatever you are putting out in the world will return to you. It's the way the universe is designed. That should encourage us.
It's discouraging when we don't see the harvest when we'd like. And that's why he ends verse 9 here. Let's not get tired of doing what is good because at just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don't give up. Do you know that God owns all the seasons? Ecclesiastes 3 says there is a time for everything under the sun and that all the times are beautiful in God's sight.
Graham Cochrane (16:12.428)
God owns, controls, and knows the timing of things. We don't get to control the timing. We don't get to control the timing. This is why having time-based goals can be frustrating. Time-based goals are useful for self-evaluation. What would I have to do to reach that goal in that time to get focused and to get clarity? This is a big part of what my friend Dr. Benjamin Hardy talks about in his incredible book, The Science of Scaling. But keeping yourself to a time-based goal as the point is missing the point.
Use time-based goals to get focused and get clear on what needs to stay in your life and what needs to go in order to reach that goal. It gives you data, it gives you intel. But outside of that, you don't actually get to control the timing of your goals becoming a reality. If you think you do, you're gonna drive yourself crazy because you don't own the times. God owns the times. And there is a right time to reap a harvest of blessing. You don't wanna reap that harvest of blessing at the wrong time, because then it won't be a blessing.
Proverbs says in chapter 10, I believe, that the blessing of the Lord makes rich and he adds no sorrow with it. There is a wrong time blessing that adds sorrow. There is a right time blessing from the Lord that adds riches and peace and joy and becomes a real blessing. That's what we want. So don't get tired of doing the good that you're doing because you will reap a harvest of blessing if you don't give up and it'll be at the right time. So this reminds me of another verse that I've been
like locked on for the last two and a half years and I have not known what to do with it because I read it, I believe it, and then I have a hard time living it. And it's 1 Thessalonians 4 verse 11. Make it your goal, some translations say make it your ambition to live a quiet life, minding your own business and working with your hands.
Make it your goal to live a quiet life minding your own business working with your hands. Can I speak to you business owners? Mind your own freaking business. For two reasons. One, minding someone else's business will only drive you insane. Comparison will destroy you as we've already discussed. But number two, if you want your business to succeed, you need to mind it. You need to pay attention to it. You need to work with your hands. Get your hands dirty like Paul says there.
Graham Cochrane (18:40.91)
But what he's, the umbrella he's putting those two phrases under at the beginning of verse 11 is make it your goal, make it your ambition, make it, if you want to strive for something, here's the irony of this verse. Strive for living a quiet life. And the word quiet there in the Greek literally means stillness or rest. Okay? If you want success, make it your goal to be still.
to stop freaking out. He's talking about people that are busybodies, running around, gossiping, getting their hands in everything. This is in contrast to that if you read 1 Thessalonians chapter three and four especially. Stop running around, trying to keep your hands in everyone else's thing, paying attention to everyone else's thing, staying on top of everything, every news, every person. Just stop it. Focus on your thing, mind your own business, and slow down.
Is your life, is your business marked by the word or described overarchingly as the word quiet? Like does that represent how people would describe you physically, your state of mind? We're talking about quietness of mind and heart here.
Right, Jesus talks about in the book of John, I'm giving you a gift of peace, peace of mind and heart, right? Does your life and your business reflect having a quiet mind, a quiet heart, peace, this confidence that everything's gonna be fine, at the right time I'm gonna reap a harvest? Or does your life or business reflect anxious thoughts, running around, packed schedules,
obsessive-compulsive comparison, anger, bitterness, resentment.
Graham Cochrane (20:37.902)
I'm describing to you the tension that I'm living in right now. I want to be the person that lives a quiet, still, restful, calm life. Like, it's gonna be okay. And yet I wrestle with comparison, wanting what everyone else has, feeling like I'm making invisible progress, I'm the world's best kept secret. I should be so much farther along than I am right now. Is this real for somebody right now? At the end of the year, this is how I tend to feel.
A lot to celebrate. And friend, I have a lot to celebrate this year. My family is healthy, my wife and I are in love. We have so many gifts. If I put all the really important things to the side and even just look as a business owner, since I speak to business owners all the time, my business has largely doubled this year. We're just under two Xing what we did last year. In a year where a lot of people have struggled, you would think I would be celebrating that, and I am.
But in this moment of vulnerability with you, I'm looking back on what I didn't accomplish. Isn't that crazy? I'm looking back on how I didn't even reach my goal for this year, even though I doubled my income this year.
This is what we do sometimes. So what I wanna just share with you as we wrap up this year, it's Christmas this week for those of you that are listening and watching in real time. There's hopefully a time to break away, but I wanted to give you some encouragement. If you're watching or listening to this over the holiday or in the car or traveling or whatever, or whenever you're listening to this.
four things that this passage tells us to do. And first of all, let me just tell you, you're not behind. You are right on time. I believe in a God that owns and controls the timelines of our lives. So you're not behind. You're not doing anything wrong. But let me give you four encouragements. Number one, slow down. You need to be still. You need to quiet your soul. You might need to slow down in your work rhythms.
Graham Cochrane (22:43.712)
My new book is coming out in a few weeks, The Effortless Business. I have a whole chapter in that book called The 20-Hour CEO that's gonna help you slow down your work rhythms. That might be you. But for a lot of us, even if we have good rhythms physically, it's our heart that needs to slow down. It is our mind that needs to slow down. Be still. Be still. It's okay.
Toss those anxious thoughts away. It's fine. There's no rush. There is no rush for you to reach your goals. You're right on time. You are right on time, my friends. So slow down. Number two, stay focused. Attend to your work, Paul says. Not everyone else's. Mind your own business. Stay focused on you. Unsubscribe from email lists that are distractions. Unfollow people on Instagram.
or TikTok that are distractions. Or better yet, get off those platforms for a time. Stop watching YouTube videos other than mine, just joking. Stop watching YouTube videos if you need to. Stop listening to podcasts other than mine, just joking. But for real, just joking. Take a break. Take a break from all the content for a moment. Or take a break from following those people that inspire you. If it's crossed over the line of inspiration, from inspiration to the line of comparison and resentment and bitterness, well then my friend, we're just living with anger and hate in our lives.
not inspiration and now it's no longer useful, it's actually hurtful. So stay focused on your own work, whatever you gotta do, whatever boundaries you have to create, even for just a season, even for 30 days, to just get focused back on your work. The only way you're gonna break through is if you do great work in the world, which leads me to number three. So slow down, stay focused. Number three, serve well.
Do not grow weary or do not get tired, depending on the translation in Galatians 6, of doing good. Okay, continue doing what is good. There's two ways to read this. Number one is do good things. If you want good results, do good things. So if you're on a health journey and you're not seeing the progress, continue to do the good things for your body, for your mental health, right? Do the good, put good in to get good out. My wife calls it making a good deposit.
Graham Cochrane (25:06.296)
do a cold plunge, do a sauna, drink a green juice. It may not change your life in an instant, but you're putting a good deposit in, you keep doing good, right? Your relationship, your marriage, whatever it is, keep doing the good things, those good deposits into that relationship, you will reap a harvest. But it also, if you're a business owner, if you serve people in the world, do good in the world for others, serve people powerfully. Jesus says, the secret to being great is to be the servant of all.
Service leads to greatness, not immediately, but inevitably.
So continue to powerfully, do good in the world, put out your content, serve your clients, continue to share your message powerfully, even if it feels like you're making a visible progress, you are so close to breakthrough. Don't stop.
Graham Cochrane (26:03.608)
Don't get tired of doing good, serve well. And number four, so we've slowed down, stay focused, serve well, and finally, stand firm. Don't quit. Most people quit right before the finish line. And they wouldn't quit if they could see the finish line. If you're running in a race and you're so close to the finish line, you don't quit. Generally speaking, unless your body is literally breaking down, you speed up.
Because you know you're almost there and now you can pace yourself and you can taste the finish line. so close that you're like, let me get there. The only reason why we quit right before the finish line is because we don't see it. We don't see it. So can I just tell you, if you're watching or listening to this today, you are not behind. You are right where you need to be. You've started, you've grown, you're making invisible progress.
but your breakthrough is right around the corner. Don't quit. Stand firm in the path that you're on if you know it's a good path. If in your right mind you felt peace about this is the path I must go and you're not seeing the progress, you're not seeing the fruit, you're not seeing the breakthrough yet, don't quit. Everyone quits right before the breakthrough. Don't let that be you. I pray this encourages you. I pray this helps you today.
I'm believing for you that this next year will be your best year yet. Not because something magical is going to happen, but because I know that you're so close. And I know that if you can slow down, if you can stay focused on what you're doing, if you can continue to serve well those around you and serve yourself well, and you can stand firm on the path that God's put you on, you will see the harvest that you want to see that is in
your destiny. appreciate the time. Merry Christmas. Happy New Year. I'll see you on another episode real soon.
