December 2021, I found myself leading a group of incoming freshmen on a tour around the campus of the University I was attending. I had applied to the graphic design program that morning. I had been designing since high school, so I knew my way around the programs. I had all the confidence in the world I would make it. Halfway through, my phone buzzes. I stepped away from the group to check if it was the notification I was waiting for. It was. I had received an email from the design department head. “We’re sorry to inform you…” That was all I needed to read. My goal-setting and execution was all for naught, right? 

The truth? My goal-setting was good, my execution was not. My overconfidence let my output slip, I threw out the process I had learned and assumed I knew what I was talking about. In the end, I expected my goal to just achieve itself. They don’t. They need a blueprint, a battle plan, and most importantly, good execution.

“A goal without a system is just wishful thinking.”
James Clear

Find the Path Before you Walk it

After that rejection email, I felt I had nowhere to go. What I wanted was squandered because of my actions or the lack thereof. The goals I had set for myself were not met because I had not done what I could to achieve them or I set a goal that had an outcome I had no control over.

However, after I composed myself and had a long chat with my dad, I took time to reevaluate. I tried to see what I had missed or overlooked. I didn’t sit back and hope someone would hand me an opportunity. I saw where I might have failed, where I wanted to be, and tried to map out the best way to get there. So during the year that followed, I decided I was going to work harder than I ever had before. I was going to do more work and I was going to try to learn more on my own in order to prepare for the next application process.

I know it’s easy to want something. It’s easy to make a moodboard, write down some affirmations, and talk about all the things you want to do. It’s hard to be consistent. It’s hard to push yourself. It’s hard to form a habit and reach your goals. That’s where I find most will tap out, because execution is the hardest part, because it’s already been a long day, because maybe I’m not cut out for this kind of thing. The difference was I was committed to myself  to prove I could make it in and significantly better than I was.

Show Up, No Matter What

For me, the commitment to myself looked like relentless practice. Not just when I had a project, not just when someone was paying me. I took brands I saw every day; logos on billboards, packaging on store shelves, typefaces on street signs. I take these designs, formulate my own opinions about them, and then approach them as if someone had hired me to design them. Not because I had to or because I believed I could do better, but because I felt it would make me better.

“You become what you repeatedly do.”
Aristotle

I took on freelance gigs. I stacked projects. I stayed up late refining my craft, making mistakes, learning, improving. Yeah, it was overwhelming at times. The “Am I even good enough for this?” moments creep in, but that’s part of the process. You either push through or you don’t, because if your experience is similar to mine, these feelings won’t go away.

If you stick with it long enough, something happens. The work compounds. You start getting better. More confident. You land projects you never thought possible.

That’s the moment you realize: the struggle was the shortcut.

A Project that Helped Me See this

One project that I did on my own was based on the brand Kadant. I saw this brand while I was working my college job, it looked basic and had no personality whatsoever. I wanted to make it feel better, cooler, more appropriate to the industry it is a part of, Engineering and Development. No one asked me to do this, no one was going to pay me to do it, but that’s how I felt I could prove to myself that I could find solutions if companies like this were to approach me.

I love the sharp edges of the custom wordmark, I love the repeated shape of the A. But, whether or not this result is actually “better” is up to whoever this project would be presented to. In the end, the process of working hard and utilizing your time is what gets you closer to accomplishing your goals than anything else.

Goals are Nothing Without Action

I kept that rejection email long after things eventually worked out. It served as a reminder that the real transformation happened in the year between them; the long stretch of showing up, improving, and proving to myself that effort actually moves the needle.

What changed me wasn’t some big breakthrough; it was the accumulation of small, deliberate work. The late nights, the self-assigned projects, the uncomfortable honesty about where I needed to improve. Those habits did so much for me, I am better off because my acceptance letter arrived later than I had hoped.

Put in the work, and see what happens when effort meets opportunity.