My parents have something they call “Rachel Time”, which is a nice way of saying I cram WAY too much into too short of a time.

I call it ✨optimism✨

Others call it…unrealistic.

I always argue that somehow I’m never late, so this personal time thing must work for me? But they’re yet to be convinced.

Anyway…

After 7 months of house hunting and many rejected offers, I was feeling a bit anxious that things weren’t happening in “Rachel Time”.

Our lease was about to be up. We were losing every bid. The late Spring season came and went with few new listings.

I specifically remember one car ride back into the city with my husband. We weren’t speaking. The radio was at a whisper. I knew we were both thinking about our dwindling options.

We decided to let the situation breathe before giving up.

Of course, the moment we did that, a new listing hit the market in our favorite neighborhood. And it was within our price range. 🤞

But – we were traveling and couldn’t see it right away. Deflected, we said…

“No way it won’t go for wayyyy over asking.”
“It’ll be long gone before we see it.”
“Someone else will come in with a crazy offer.”

Thankfully, we were wrong.

✔ We got in to see the house.
✔ We loved it even more in person.
✔ They accepted our under-asking-price offer.
✔ The close date timed well with our lease.
✔ Our inspector said it was the best kept house he’s ever seen.
✔ We got to meet the previous owners, who were angels. We moved in already knowing our neighbors and with a garage full of goodies they gifted us.

Stars were aligning.

We moved in this past Saturday, and I already feel so at home here.

As I curled up in my new four seasons room yesterday listening to the rain, I smiled and thought to myself…

🥰This is it.

This was worth the wait.

me, the trees, and the purple house across the street

If you love the work you do, your business gifts you these this is it moments.

• That glowing testimonial that leaves tears in your eyes
• Taking a yoga class in the middle of the day because you can
• Landing your dream brand collaboration

The harsh reality about these moments? They usually don’t come in Rachel Time.

They’re preceded by setbacks, failures, pivots, lessons, and an annoying amount of patience.

Think about Threads, the new app by Meta.

Meta launched a messaging app with the same mission called Direct in 2017. It shut down in 2019.

They tried launching again with the 1st version of Threads in 2019, but it didn’t catch on and was retired in 2021.

Third (public) time seemed to be the charm.

The latest version of Threads hit 100+ million sign-ups in less than 5 days. For reference, Twitter has been around for 17 years and has ~400 million users.

I’d bet my bottom dollar that Zuck and Adam Mosseri are having themselves a this is it moment.

Listen,  if Meta – with its giant budgets, established brand, and brainpower – can have 2 public failures and still not give up…so can you.

Your future this is it moments will be worth the setbacks, challenges, and pivots.

When that feels untrue, remember this:

1. Good things take time. (6 years in the Threads story)
2. While you’re practicing patience, keep iterating and improving.
3. Do #1 and #2 until you experience your this is it moment.

You’ve got this.