Homemade Yoghurt — A Lesson on Striving
A process of fine tuning our pursuit
All who engage in the art of homemade yoghurt would know the factors influencing yoghurt texture and taste. For example, the time and temperature for fermentation affect the yoghurt’s sourness. We can control the time for fermentation, but unless you use sous vide, we cannot control the ambient temperature much.
One would also know that these factors could be adjusted with each batch of yoghurt made. If one batch was too sour, we would put less starting yoghurt in the next round, or leave it at ambient temperature for a shorter duration. It takes a little trial and error. We adjust the process with each subsequent try.
I have been making yoghurt for several years now. Sometimes, I get adventurous and try to make my yoghurt differently. Thankfully, each batch of yoghurt is always edible, but it may not be a taste or texture to my liking all the time.
The process of achieving something in life is somewhat similar. It may be a job that we want to succeed in or a hobby that we enjoy. Many factors influence the trajectory and outcome. Some factors can be controlled or predicted, but some cannot. Sometimes we get carried away by what we think are good ideas, but the outcome may not be preferable. We are encouraged when we manage to take a step towards our goal, discouraged when plans do not turn out the way we want them.
My journey in setting up a small advisory business has been an undulating one.
When I first started, a potential client expressed interest, but negotiations did not pull through. Nevertheless, the experience prompted me to plan and define my services better. Having thought through that, I hit the next challenge: finding clients. I began researching communities, advertising, and connecting with others. In the process, I chanced upon a crowdsourcing platform. With the projects available on that platform, I exercised my skills and tested tools to improve the feasibility of the services I would be providing. Although that provided clarity on my scope of business, I still did not find any clients. Subsequently, some friends suggested that I take a full-time job that allowed me to network while setting up my business as a side hustle. So, I made several job applications. However, no job offer came, and still no clients.
I am not sure how long this process will take. I make some headway with each step but also arrive at some blockages. Nevertheless, with each step taken, the next step reveals itself. It reveals itself either by blocking off one path, or being pointed in a different but specific direction. Every roadblock and discouragement also indicated to me to look left and right for another path to explore. Perhaps, these roadblocks are means of course correction that hopefully lead to my destination.
Similar to yoghurt making, each batch of yoghurt I made is edible. Some batches taste better than others. Some processes are more rewarding than others. The outcomes are never too wrong. Any yoghurt is good for the gut anyway. The next batch is always an opportunity to fine-tune the previous, so that it propagates and leads to the yoghurt that best suits our individual preferences.
