Trust 'The Process.'

Hear the words of the towering warrior of the courts, Joel Embiid, who declared with a voice that has since become legend: “Trust The Process.” This utterance, simple in sound yet mighty in meaning, was not born in triumph, but in the valley of hardship. It came from the days when Embiid’s team, the Philadelphia 76ers, endured defeat after defeat, their path uncertain, their future mocked. Yet within that struggle arose a philosophy: to endure the present pain, to place faith in the long journey, to believe that time, patience, and discipline would yield glory. Thus was born the call: Trust The Process.

For what is The Process if not the long road of growth and transformation? It is the unseen labor, the daily grind, the invisible victories won when the crowd is absent and the lights are dark. To “trust” it is to believe that though the harvest is not yet here, the seeds have been planted. It is to endure drought and storm, knowing that the roots beneath the soil are strengthening, preparing for a future bloom. Embiid’s cry is the ancient teaching of patience clothed in the language of sport.

Consider the tale of the Great Wall of China. It was not built in a year, nor even in a generation, but stone by stone, decade by decade, as laborers poured their sweat into the earth. Many who worked upon it never saw its completion, yet their efforts became part of a defense that endured for centuries. They, too, were trusting the process—believing in the worth of the unseen, the value of the unfinished. In the same way, Embiid’s call to Trust The Process reminds us that greatness is not instant, but carved through time.

The wisdom also bears warning. For many seek quick rewards, immediate victories, fleeting pleasures. They abandon the process when results are not swift, and in so doing, they abandon greatness itself. The farmer who pulls up his seeds each morning to check if they grow will never reap a harvest. The disciple who leaves his training because mastery is slow will never wield true skill. To Trust The Process is to resist this temptation, to embrace the slow rhythm of growth, even when impatience cries out.

Embiid himself embodies this teaching. Injuries kept him from the court in his early years, doubt surrounded his career, and voices declared him a failure before he could even rise. Yet he endured, believing in the unseen work of preparation. In time, he became one of the most dominant forces in basketball, proving that patience and faith in the journey bear fruit beyond expectation. His life became a living parable of his words, an example that hardship is not the end, but the beginning of greatness.

O children of tomorrow, engrave this upon your hearts: Trust The Process. Whatever your endeavor—whether in art, in study, in labor, or in love—know that the journey will be long, that setbacks will come, and that impatience will tempt you to abandon the path. Do not yield. Instead, hold firm, believe in the work, endure the trials. For all that is great and lasting is born not in haste, but in perseverance.

Thus, the cry of Joel Embiid is no mere slogan of sport. It is a teaching for all of life: greatness requires time, effort, and faith. If you would achieve something worthy, do not demand to see the fruit at once. Plant deeply, water faithfully, endure storms, and in time the harvest will come. Trust The Process, for in that trust lies the key to triumph.