By Hezron Ochiel
Do you remember a time when you felt excited about the future?
You had plans, ideas and a clear sense of where you wanted to go. Then life happened. An opportunity disappeared, progress slowed, or a goal started to feel further away than you expected.
Repeated setbacks can gradually make a goal feel less achievable, even when it still matters to you.
I have experienced this in my own career.
After college, I spent nearly two years trying to secure an entry-level opportunity in journalism. During that period, I turned to online writing, which helped me earn some income, sharpen my writing and research skills, and stay connected to the kind of work I wanted to do.
Eventually, a professional relationship led to an opportunity with The New Humanitarian, where I worked as a stringer.
That experience taught me something I still believe:
A stalled plan does not always mean the goal is over. Sometimes you need to change how you are moving towards it.
Start by understanding what has changed
When progress slows, it helps to look carefully at what has changed around you.
The market may have shifted, your skills may need strengthening, or your original approach may no longer be working.
This matters during a job search because employers continue to adjust the skills they value.
In my analysis of 948 communication job advertisements, I found that writing remained important while employers were also asking for capabilities in areas such as strategy, analytics, search and AI.
The lesson is practical: Keep the goal in view and stay willing to adjust the route.
Focus on the next useful step
Big goals can become overwhelming when progress has been slow for a long time.
It helps to bring your attention back to the next step you can realistically take.
During my own period of unemployment, online writing became that step. It kept me practising the skills that proved useful when an opportunity arose.
A useful next step could be to strengthen a skill or better prepare yourself for the kind of opportunity you want.
The important thing is movement with purpose.
I explore this further in How to Improve Your Employability During a Job Search, where I look at how targeted learning, practical experience and evidence of skills can strengthen your readiness for opportunities.
Build with what is available
Sometimes progress begins before you have all the resources you would like.
Earlier in my career, I secured an opportunity to produce a short documentary and 1,000 brochures for the then Eldoret Town Council within five days. I did not yet own all the professional equipment needed for the assignment.
I had to work with what was available, build capacity quickly and deliver the project.
That experience shaped another lesson I have written about in How to Start a Project Before You Have All the Resources.
Sometimes the resources follow the decision to begin.
Starting small can help you see what you can do, what you still need and where support may come from.
Stay close to people who help you grow
Relationships can shape what happens after a setback.
My journalism opportunity came through a professional relationship that connected me to an opening where I could demonstrate what I had been practising.
That experience changed how I think about networks.
Useful relationships are built through trust, contribution and staying connected to people who understand your work.
When your plans stall, the people around you can sometimes help you see possibilities you might otherwise miss.
Give yourself room to learn
Setbacks can teach you something about the goal, the environment and yourself.
The lesson may be that you need a new skill or a different approach.
What looked like a frustrating period of waiting after college also became a period of preparation.
Skills developed during difficult periods can later become part of your professional value. In How to Turn Your Career Experience into a Knowledge Business, I explore how accumulated experience can eventually be organised into services, products and expertise that solve real problems.
Know when a goal needs to change
Persistence is valuable when the goal still matters, and there is a realistic path forward.
Experience can also give you new information. Your interests may change, or another opportunity may reveal strengths you had not considered before.
Changing direction can be part of growth.
What matters is making that decision thoughtfully and giving yourself enough perspective to understand what the experience is teaching you.
Keep moving with purpose
Looking back, some of the most important moments in my career did not happen according to the plan I had imagined after college.
Online writing became a bridge into journalism. Journalism later led me to pursue public relations and strategic communication.
Those experiences taught me to be careful about judging progress too early.
A delay can be frustrating, and a failed attempt can hurt, yet your next useful step still matters.
Review what has changed, strengthen what needs strengthening and keep moving towards work that gives your skills and experience meaning.
Sometimes rebuilding momentum begins with one useful step taken from where you are today.
Hezron Ochiel is an award-winning strategic communications and public relations professional with over 15 years of experience in media, digital communication and reputation strategy. He serves as the Deputy Corporate Communications Manager at the government-owned Kenya Medical Training College (KMTC) and is the founder of Hezron Insights, where he writes about AI visibility, Digital PR, SEO, GEO and digital authority. His work has appeared on platforms including Reuters, The New Humanitarian and The Standard.