🌸 You’re further than you think—just look back

📚 story

“How is the business doing?”

I’m on the phone with my brother.
I’m hesitant. It’s not that I don’t know what to say, it’s… complicated.

See, I’m on a rollercoaster.
It’s been 2 years, and lately, well, it’s going up.

You may think, “good!”

WRONG.

If you’ve ever been on a rollercoaster, you know going down is the best part. (duh!)

And right now I feel stuck in the climb.

It’s already the end of the first quarter—can somebody please tell me where the hell the time went? I feel tired. I’ve been in a very low mood for a few days now. But I never expected entrepreneurship to be this hard.

Don’t get me wrong: I love my job. I wouldn’t trade it for anything.
The real problem is my mind.

My thoughts are becoming more and more invasive.
I’ve been crying quite a few times.
Let’s put it as it is: I feel like shit.

I’m thinking: I don’t want to worry him. But I can’t lie.

“Well… not as fast as we’d love to.”
“But is it doing better than last year?”
“Hmmm… I’m not sure. I don’t know..”

He sees my face— tired, with a sad grin.

“Have you looked at the money? your clients?”

So, I take a second.
This time, not with my crazy brain.

“Hmmm, if I look at it this way…”

It’s the end of Q1, and we closed new deals. We have 3 clients. It’s 2 more. We’re building better processes. The product is starting to get results. Two and half years in and my business partner still amazes me every day.

I guess it’s not so bad.

Can I dare to say it?
It’s good.

I go for “It’s better. Much better.”

“Seems like it’s promising,” my brother says “Things never go as fast as we hope. But you should be happy it’s getting better—progress is good. You have a lot going on, give yourself some time.”

I hang up the phone and smile. I love him. He doesn’t know it, but he lifted a crazy heavy weight off my shoulders.

Just like that, he made the rollercoaster move again.

No, all my problems did not disappear within a second. Anxiety and I have become real friends lately—and I’m nothing if not a loyal one. But he made me look at things in another light.

Zooming out.
Taking a step back.
Seeing the whole picture.

Because I’m human: I forget.
Where we started. What we’re building.
How much effort it takes. How far we’ve come.

📝 lesson

Progress doesn’t always feel like progress. Progress isn’t always obvious.

Especially when you don’t take a break to appreciate it. Especially when you’re inside the mess of it—wrestling with doubts, hitting walls, adjusting the plan for the hundredth time.

It’s SO easy to obsess over what’s missing: the client who said no, the lead who ghosted you, the post that flopped, the milestone that slipped by.

It’s much harder to see what you’re doing right. But when you step back—even just for a second—you realize you’re not stuck.

You’ve been moving all along.
You just forgot to notice.

That whole “never look back” thing?
BULLSHIT.

Do it.
Look back.
Turn around.
See how far you’ve come.

All these tiny steps you’ve been taking, they added up. You simply didn’t realize you were already halfway there.

💭 questions

• What’s something you’ve been working for?

• When was the last time you zoomed out to see your progress? For real?

• When was the last time you celebrated your efforts? your journey—not just the outcome?

And just in case you don’t have a brother to tell you: you’re doing just fine.
Give yourself time. Be kind to yourself.

Love always,
Flora 🌸