The Importance of Trudging

A few years back as we were experiencing everything that all of us went through during the COVID pandemic the buzz word that came out was "pivot". Everyone was talking about how they were changing things and that "pivoting" was how organizations would be handling all of the changes and uncertainty that was swirling about.

In the past couple years the new buzz word has been "grit". Companies and sports organizations were all talking about how important having perseverance and a general toughness about them. Grit has been now used as the shortened lingo to overcome obstacles and deal with adversity.

This labeling or the new buzz word sensation is an excellent way for people dealing with life's uncontrollable circumstances and a way to navigate through rather than just reacting every time in a negative fashion.

Typically at the end of each quarter I do an assessment of how I am doing both personally and professionally and then I make some adjustments to make sure I am doing well. I have looked back at some of my notes and have noticed buzz words mixed in on how I am adjusting.

In looking through the last few years I also noticed another word that was common, trudging.

The definition of trudging as it appears in the Oxford Languages Dictionary is to walk slowly and with heavy steps, typically because of exhaustion or harsh conditions.

Nearly every picture brought up on a search of trudging is either someone walking in snow or sand.

For me, trudging is intentionally carving your path during difficult times where you need to make sure your steps matter.

I started understanding and using the phrase trudging in college when I lived in the dorms. The dorms I lived in were called "The Valleys" and the path to campus was always uphill. During the winter months there were so many days where I experienced trudging.

There were certain words that were engrained in my vocabulary during my college experience and I am just realizing almost 30 years later how prevalent they are.

Trudging to me is how I intentionally deal with difficult challenges and push forward to get to the end of the journey I have selected. For me, I have always been one to enjoy the journey, not just the end result. So, trudging really does have a special place in my heart. This word describes how I have been able to garner success and be at a place in my life where I am simply thankful for everything that is around me.

There is nothing glamorous about trudging. This is not one of those cool buzz words. This is the way that I head in the right direction. This is the way I choose not to just react with a negative connotation. This is me understanding that life is not always easy. You have to have intentionality and sometimes you have to have hard steps.

Each day there is always trudging. There is a need to make sure I am sifting through the hard things and continuing to move forward. There are some days where the clock moves slow. There are days where I come home from work and I am exhausted, but I know that I have moved the needle forward. Each day has a degree of pushing forward and that is where I experience the most growth. Yes, this sounds like a complete contradiction. Calculated steps provides the most growth? If you can continue to move forward in the correct direction, no matter how slow you are, you will continue to be ahead of each day previous.

Trudging at times has a negative connotation, but I am ok continuing to use that word as a way to help guide me through life. Some people chose to use the word grind, but I still like trudging. With grind the word that comes to mind for me is reduce. Therefore, grind is not what I do, I will stick with trudging.

Everyone should have a mantra or a set of core values that you should display to those around you. You should have past experiences that you can use to help you through roadblocks and challenges ahead. You can use buzzwords, or borrow phrases from others. It isn't necessarily the word, but rather how you feel in moving your job, career, or life forward when things might be a bit hard.

I am good with you using trudging too. Especially if you are willing to show how trudging will get you to your end goal. So use your past experiences and figure out how to consistently move forward. Trudge away my friends, trudge away!