May 1, 2025 • 12 mins
Pause, Don’t Quit: How to Stay Consistent When Progress Feels Slow
How often have you abandoned your goals when the journey got hard, unclear, or just painfully slow? You’re not alone. A staggering 92% of people never reach their goals—not because they lack talent or vision, but because they give up when it stops feeling easy.
In this powerful episode, Hazel dives into one of the most overlooked success strategies: learning to pause without quitting. Whether you’re building a business, navigating your career, or healing personally, this is your reminder that slow progress is still progress.
Success isn’t about perfection. It’s about consistency, grit, and the courage to keep going when no one’s clapping yet.
In This Episode, You'll Learn:
- Why consistency beats talent every time—and what psychological science says about grit
- How to reframe “slow seasons” as essential building blocks of success
- Real talk about silent seasons, stagnation, and staying in the game when results aren’t instant
- Simple but powerful ways to keep your momentum and confidence alive during life’s “paused” chapters
- The 8% mindset: what separates dreamers from doers (and how you can join them)
Keywords for Search (SEO):
goal setting, personal growth, how to stay consistent, slow progress motivation, mindset for success, why people give up, how to not quit, resilience tips, grit psychology, how to keep going
Quote from Hazel:
“Your consistency is your superpower. You're not just surviving—you're becoming.”
This Episode is For You If:
- You’re feeling stuck or questioning your path
- You’re an entrepreneur, professional, or dreamer needing a motivational reset
- You’re ready to shift from frustration to quiet confidence
- You’re committed to your growth, even in the silence
Share this episode with someone who feels like giving up but needs to hear that they’re still in the game.
Join the 8% who don’t just dream. They decide. They do.
—
Listen, Rate & Review, Share & Subscribe (Follow)!
Check me out online! I want to hear from you!!!
Follow us online & tag us to let me know you’re listening– I want to know your favorite episode! @itsthehumanexperience
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, hey, hey.
Welcome back to the it's theHuman Experience podcast.
You already know this isn'tjust a podcast.
It's a space where we don'tjust talk about becoming.
We live it, we breathe it, wehonor every step and we even do
it when it feels like it's slow.
We're going to talk more aboutthe process in this episode, but
(00:21):
before we do that, I need tomake sure that you're following
the podcast.
Let's go scroll on up to thetop and hit that follow button.
If you're tuning in from Apple,no matter where you're tuning
in from, make sure you'refollowing the podcast.
Share the episodes with yourbesties, with your friends, with
your goal getters, who you knowneed to hear it and need to
level up as well.
Let me hit you with this 92% ofpeople never achieve their
(00:46):
goals.
What 92% of people neverachieve their goals?
And that's because they quitwhen it gets uncomfortable, when
it gets rough, when it lookslike it's not going to work out.
Not because they're not capable, not because they didn't want
to go further, but because theirconsistency felt too hard.
(01:08):
Maybe they didn't have someonereminding them that sometimes,
slow is still progress.
If you've been comparing yourcrawl to someone else's
highlight reel, I'm going toneed you to pause, just like I
did in episode 74.
Sometimes life lives and whenit does, it is okay to pause.
Just don't stop because you'renot behind.
(01:30):
You're just in build mode, andsometimes build mode causes you
to have to take a pause.
Look at where you are, reflecton where you are, you've been
and who and whose you are, andin order to do that, that
requires a pause or stillness.
It doesn't mean you have tostop or give up and get this.
(01:51):
45% of people supernores,specifically give up within five
years.
But the ones who stay, theybuild seven figures, and they
build seven figures by stayingthrough the silent season,
through the times where it'sslow.
It really brings me back to thelast episode, 76, where I talked
(02:12):
about how important it was tocrawl first before you walk.
Because when you think we allwant impact, we want influence,
we want the income, but no onewants to crawl the late nights,
the no's, the failed attempts,the it ain't working out the way
we want it to work out or asfast as we want it to work out.
But guess what?
(02:33):
That crawl builds your capacity, it teaches you discipline.
It's not just about desire,it's can you stay when the going
gets rough, when things areslow, when people are saying no,
what do you do?
Do you fall?
It's absolutely crazy because asI started to do more research,
(02:53):
I came upon the fact thatpsychological science,
researchers listen, all thosestuff they found that grit and
consistency are more predictiveof success than intelligence or
natural ability.
Y'all what happens if youcombine your intelligence and
your natural ability withconsistency and grit?
(03:17):
We would be unstoppable.
I think what that teaches meand you is that it is not what's
happening to us.
It is the way we are reactingto the things that are happening
, because if we remainconsistent, we have the grit and
resilience we can absolutely dothe things that we need to do
to accomplish our dreams andlive our lives.
(03:39):
Now Let that sink in.
It's you versus you for real.
Your consistency is your power.
This is your moment.
So I want you to ask yourselfwhat's the key difference
between those who keep going andthose who quit?
It's not motivation.
It's those systems, theaccountability, the routines,
(04:01):
their mental toughness, the waythat they build through their
hardest moments.
It's the system that you decideto put in place or you decide
to ignore.
The routines that you decide tokeep in place or you decide to
ignore the mental toughness thatyou decide to tap into to
remind yourself who you are andwhat you're capable of.
(04:21):
You got to build in those hardmoments.
You have to embrace the dualityof life and you right now,
listening to this, this is yourmoment to decide.
Will I give myself a realchance to see what's possible or
will I decide that it's not forme?
You don't need to knoweverything every step of the way
.
You don't need to know the nextstep.
(04:43):
God will provide the next stepto you.
You just need to know thatyou're in alignment and that
you're doing what is coming fromyour gut through intuition, the
Holy Spirit, and you just needto stay in the game.
Stay in the game.
I want you to think about this,because we all done quit some
things.
Listen, I done quit some jobs,aside from the one I got laid
(05:04):
off from the little mass layoff.
I done quit some jobs.
Listen, I remember quitting.
When I was in high school, Iused to work in retail jobs.
Specifically, I worked at Kmartone time, and Christmas
season's coming over, we'regoing to have all those go-backs
, those returns, nasty shopperswho mess up everything.
I'm like you know what?
Yeah, we quitting right beforeChristmas season.
(05:27):
The point is, I've tapped outand quit in seasons of my life
where I didn't need to quit.
I could have absolutely keptgoing and, aside from my little
layoff, our little mass layoffthat we're not going to talk too
much more about, we're notgoing to let that take up any
kind of precedence in the factthat God is intentional and
things happen in the way thatthey're supposed to, so that you
(05:48):
can live the life you aredestined to live.
But I want to make sure weremember that you haven't given
your full, consistent energywhen you give up.
If you give up, I want you toalso answer this like what would
shift if you stopped expectingspeed and started honoring the
season you're in Like for real,I know for me, I literally after
(06:11):
I said I wasn't gonna talkabout it, but I'm gonna talk
about it.
After I got laid off from my joband I stood up the January
event and I stood up the Marchevent, I'm like, okay, job, come
on, god, give me my job back.
And then, when he didn't andstarted throwing opportunities
my way, I started making it veryclear that he wants me to focus
(06:32):
in this next season onentrepreneurship, I was like,
what God, I got all thesedegrees, I got all these
experiences.
I have so much knowledge forcorporate Like, are you
seriously telling me that thisis a shift that I need to really
continue to move forward with?
And so, within that, I'm like,okay, well, hurry up and drop a
meal in the bank account.
(06:52):
So you know, I'm listening.
But what would that shift looklike if you stopped expecting
speed and start honoring theseason you're in?
Because the more that I decidedto stop trying to run, to stop
trying to walk and simply crawlin the season that I'm in and
(07:12):
pull myself up and look at allof the opportunities he's
providing me, look at all of thedestiny helpers he's sending my
way, look at the fact that heis continuing to show up for me,
as opposed to wanting it tohappen faster.
That is when you start toembrace your gifts, use what's
in your hand and really stepinto your next level.
(07:36):
These moments are so importantbecause these are the moments
you realize that you're becoming.
You're not broken, you're notbehind, you're just in the wrong
room, and you've got to trustthat becoming.
You got to know that when fearcomes, it comes before the
breakthrough.
So it's okay to feel like, ohmy goodness, is this going to
work out?
But I need you to continue toremember that you are in
(07:59):
alignment, you are doing hiswork and it is absolutely going
to work out.
Listen, every step matters yourpause, your pivot, your crawl.
Stay consistent, even when it'snot cute or public or fast.
When you're building, you'rebecoming, you're rising, while
(08:19):
others are quitting, and I needyou to know that you are already
enough.
You're exactly where you'resupposed to be and I need you to
think about the fact that yourfuture self is rooting for you
and you can't give up on him orher.
Aside from that, I want you tothink about the fact that if 92%
of people are quitting andyou're a part of the 8%, that
(08:44):
pause is imperative.
It's imperative to get back upbecause 92% of people are not
going to get back up, whichmeans your chances of greatness
has increased every time youstand back up I'm going to let
that sit in your chances ofsuccess increases every time you
(09:08):
stand back up.
If the statistics are true that92% of people give up, be a part
of the 8% that don't by simplygetting back up.
If only 8% of people actuallyachieve their goals because they
don't dream.
They decide.
(09:28):
They get back up again andagain and again you decide do
you want to fall off?
Because you're going to falloff if you keep doubting
yourself, if life has knockedyou down more times than you can
count.
Get back up, because every timeyou do, you move closer to that
8%, you step into the version ofyourself that doesn't just
(09:52):
survive, but you soar, you live,you rise.
You are not average.
You are not done and your crawlis proof that you're still
going strong.
You're still in the game.
So let's rise, not just for thewin, but for who we're becoming
in the process and the factthat you are living now.
(10:14):
You are living while you havelife and you are choosing to be
the best version of yourself.
You're choosing to see just howfar you can go and grow if you
keep going.
So I don't know who thismessage is for, but I need you
to keep going.
Share this with your besties,those that you know are betting
(10:34):
on themselves and they mightjust be experiencing the
problems of life, but thatdoesn't mean that they can't be
a part of the 8% simply becausethey're going to keep going.
They're going to be consistent.
They're going to know that theycan do hard things and they're
deserving of living the lifethat they're destined to live.
(10:55):
Now go get it, go, make ithappen, keep growing and glowing
.
Hey, hey, hey.
Welcome back to the it's theHuman Experience podcast.
You already know this isn'tjust a podcast.
It's a space where we don'tjust talk about becoming.
We live it, we breathe it, wehonor every step and we even do
it when it feels like it's slow.
We're going to talk more aboutthe process in this episode, but
(00:21):
before we do that, I need tomake sure that you're following
the podcast.
Let's go scroll on up to thetop and hit that follow button.
If you're tuning in from Apple,no matter where you're tuning
in from, make sure you'refollowing the podcast.
Share the episodes with yourbesties, with your friends, with
your goal getters, who you knowneed to hear it and need to
level up as well.
Let me hit you with this 92% ofpeople never achieve their
(00:46):
goals.
What 92% of people neverachieve their goals?
And that's because they quitwhen it gets uncomfortable, when
it gets rough, when it lookslike it's not going to work out.
Not because they're not capable, not because they didn't want
to go further, but because theirconsistency felt too hard.
(01:08):
Maybe they didn't have someonereminding them that sometimes,
slow is still progress.
If you've been comparing yourcrawl to someone else's
highlight reel, I'm going toneed you to pause, just like I
did in episode 74.
Sometimes life lives and whenit does, it is okay to pause.
Just don't stop because you'renot behind.
(01:30):
You're just in build mode, andsometimes build mode causes you
to have to take a pause.
Look at where you are, reflecton where you are, you've been
and who and whose you are, andin order to do that, that
requires a pause or stillness.
It doesn't mean you have tostop or give up and get this.
(01:51):
45% of people supernores,specifically give up within five
years.
But the ones who stay, theybuild seven figures, and they
build seven figures by stayingthrough the silent season,
through the times where it'sslow.
It really brings me back to thelast episode, 76, where I talked
(02:12):
about how important it was tocrawl first before you walk.
Because when you think we allwant impact, we want influence,
we want the income, but no onewants to crawl the late nights,
the no's, the failed attempts,the it ain't working out the way
we want it to work out or asfast as we want it to work out.
But guess what?
(02:33):
That crawl builds your capacity, it teaches you discipline.
It's not just about desire,it's can you stay when the going
gets rough, when things areslow, when people are saying no,
what do you do?
Do you fall?
It's absolutely crazy because asI started to do more research,
(02:53):
I came upon the fact thatpsychological science,
researchers listen, all thosestuff they found that grit and
consistency are more predictiveof success than intelligence or
natural ability.
Y'all what happens if youcombine your intelligence and
your natural ability withconsistency and grit?
(03:17):
We would be unstoppable.
I think what that teaches meand you is that it is not what's
happening to us.
It is the way we are reactingto the things that are happening
, because if we remainconsistent, we have the grit and
resilience we can absolutely dothe things that we need to do
to accomplish our dreams andlive our lives.
(03:39):
Now Let that sink in.
It's you versus you for real.
Your consistency is your power.
This is your moment.
So I want you to ask yourselfwhat's the key difference
between those who keep going andthose who quit?
It's not motivation.
It's those systems, theaccountability, the routines,
(04:01):
their mental toughness, the waythat they build through their
hardest moments.
It's the system that you decideto put in place or you decide
to ignore.
The routines that you decide tokeep in place or you decide to
ignore the mental toughness thatyou decide to tap into to
remind yourself who you are andwhat you're capable of.
(04:21):
You got to build in those hardmoments.
You have to embrace the dualityof life and you right now,
listening to this, this is yourmoment to decide.
Will I give myself a realchance to see what's possible or
will I decide that it's not forme?
You don't need to knoweverything every step of the way
.
You don't need to know the nextstep.
(04:43):
God will provide the next stepto you.
You just need to know thatyou're in alignment and that
you're doing what is coming fromyour gut through intuition, the
Holy Spirit, and you just needto stay in the game.
Stay in the game.
I want you to think about this,because we all done quit some
things.
Listen, I done quit some jobs,aside from the one I got laid
(05:04):
off from the little mass layoff.
I done quit some jobs.
Listen, I remember quitting.
When I was in high school, Iused to work in retail jobs.
Specifically, I worked at Kmartone time, and Christmas
season's coming over, we'regoing to have all those go-backs
, those returns, nasty shopperswho mess up everything.
I'm like you know what?
Yeah, we quitting right beforeChristmas season.
(05:27):
The point is, I've tapped outand quit in seasons of my life
where I didn't need to quit.
I could have absolutely keptgoing and, aside from my little
layoff, our little mass layoffthat we're not going to talk too
much more about, we're notgoing to let that take up any
kind of precedence in the factthat God is intentional and
things happen in the way thatthey're supposed to, so that you
(05:48):
can live the life you aredestined to live.
But I want to make sure weremember that you haven't given
your full, consistent energywhen you give up.
If you give up, I want you toalso answer this like what would
shift if you stopped expectingspeed and started honoring the
season you're in Like for real,I know for me, I literally after
(06:11):
I said I wasn't gonna talkabout it, but I'm gonna talk
about it.
After I got laid off from my joband I stood up the January
event and I stood up the Marchevent, I'm like, okay, job, come
on, god, give me my job back.
And then, when he didn't andstarted throwing opportunities
my way, I started making it veryclear that he wants me to focus
(06:32):
in this next season onentrepreneurship, I was like,
what God, I got all thesedegrees, I got all these
experiences.
I have so much knowledge forcorporate Like, are you
seriously telling me that thisis a shift that I need to really
continue to move forward with?
And so, within that, I'm like,okay, well, hurry up and drop a
meal in the bank account.
(06:52):
So you know, I'm listening.
But what would that shift looklike if you stopped expecting
speed and start honoring theseason you're in?
Because the more that I decidedto stop trying to run, to stop
trying to walk and simply crawlin the season that I'm in and
(07:12):
pull myself up and look at allof the opportunities he's
providing me, look at all of thedestiny helpers he's sending my
way, look at the fact that heis continuing to show up for me,
as opposed to wanting it tohappen faster.
That is when you start toembrace your gifts, use what's
in your hand and really stepinto your next level.
(07:36):
These moments are so importantbecause these are the moments
you realize that you're becoming.
You're not broken, you're notbehind, you're just in the wrong
room, and you've got to trustthat becoming.
You got to know that when fearcomes, it comes before the
breakthrough.
So it's okay to feel like, ohmy goodness, is this going to
work out?
But I need you to continue toremember that you are in
(07:59):
alignment, you are doing hiswork and it is absolutely going
to work out.
Listen, every step matters yourpause, your pivot, your crawl.
Stay consistent, even when it'snot cute or public or fast.
When you're building, you'rebecoming, you're rising, while
(08:19):
others are quitting, and I needyou to know that you are already
enough.
You're exactly where you'resupposed to be and I need you to
think about the fact that yourfuture self is rooting for you
and you can't give up on him orher.
Aside from that, I want you tothink about the fact that if 92%
of people are quitting andyou're a part of the 8%, that
(08:44):
pause is imperative.
It's imperative to get back upbecause 92% of people are not
going to get back up, whichmeans your chances of greatness
has increased every time youstand back up I'm going to let
that sit in your chances ofsuccess increases every time you
(09:08):
stand back up.
If the statistics are true that92% of people give up, be a part
of the 8% that don't by simplygetting back up.
If only 8% of people actuallyachieve their goals because they
don't dream.
They decide.
(09:28):
They get back up again andagain and again you decide do
you want to fall off?
Because you're going to falloff if you keep doubting
yourself, if life has knockedyou down more times than you can
count.
Get back up, because every timeyou do, you move closer to that
8%, you step into the version ofyourself that doesn't just
(09:52):
survive, but you soar, you live,you rise.
You are not average.
You are not done and your crawlis proof that you're still
going strong.
You're still in the game.
So let's rise, not just for thewin, but for who we're becoming
in the process and the factthat you are living now.
(10:14):
You are living while you havelife and you are choosing to be
the best version of yourself.
You're choosing to see just howfar you can go and grow if you
keep going.
So I don't know who thismessage is for, but I need you
to keep going.
Share this with your besties,those that you know are betting
(10:34):
on themselves and they mightjust be experiencing the
problems of life, but thatdoesn't mean that they can't be
a part of the 8% simply becausethey're going to keep going.
They're going to be consistent.
They're going to know that theycan do hard things and they're
deserving of living the lifethat they're destined to live.
(10:55):
Now go get it, go, make ithappen, keep growing and glowing
.
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