“The treadmill is, in fact, an appropriate metaphor. By some estimates, about 40 percent of people who buy home exercise equipment later say they ended up using it less than they’d expected. How hard we push ourselves in a given workout matters, of course, but I think the bigger impediment to progress is that sometimes we stop working it altogether. As any coach or athlete will tell you, consistency of effort over the long run is everything.
How often do people start down a path and then give up on it entirely? How many treadmills, exercise bikes, and weight sets are at this very moment gathering dust in basements across the country? How many kids go out for a sport and then quit even before the season is over? How many of us how to knit sweaters for all our friends but only manage half a sleeve before putting down the needles? Ditto for home vegetable gardens, compost bins, and diets.
How many of us start something new, full of excitement and good intentions, and then give up—permanently—when we encounter the first real obstacle, the first long plateau in progress?”
-— Grit, Angela Duckworth.
Essentially, what sees the treadmill at home gather dust after the initial burst of excitement following its purchase, is the same thing that sees your muṣḥaf and books of ʿilm gather dust after the initial excitement to memorise the Qurʾān and learn the religion wanes.
I had a student who, by Allāh’s permission, was able to memorise Sūrat Al-Aʿrāf in one day (I had set a schedule, she didn’t stick to it and crammed and was successful—in the short-term at least.) Such was her ability. At one point I had hoped that she’d have the Qurʾān memorised before that particular year was through, but she ran into trouble with timing and eventually quit. She didn’t complete her Ḥifḏh. Many others who’ve had to struggle in ways that I do not have the words to describe, persisted and then completed.
It doesn’t matter who runs faster, what ultimately matters is showing up every.single.day, not giving up and most definitely not letting that treadmill gather dust.
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