Chazal (Eruvin 65a) describe us as ״employees.״ It is Hashem, the Boss, Who masterminds the bigger picture of His enterprises. This gives us a deeper understanding why spiritual success depends primarily on effort rather than on results. Hired employees, furnished with any equipment they might need, have to simply get on with their job. Responsibility for deficits and failure all belong on the director's desk.
Hashem is Director of This World; we, His loyal workforce, are expected solely to be doing our very best. Final results are the affairs of the Conductor on High. Our avodah is to be constantly working on this task, and our job description is to keep going full swing as best as we can.
The enthusiast might set himself an optimistic target in kedusha - maybe even a realistic goal. And then, if it fails to materialize within the time span allocated, he feels dismayed, deflated and disinclined to continue. He thinks, ״Who locked the gate to my garden of dreams and so callously threw away the key? I had so yearned to serve Hashem with all my ramach eivarim. ״
His disappointment is unfounded, because, we are simply supposed to succeed in trying our utmost. There's no need to be so dependent on seeing results, so long as we're moving onwards and upwards to become the very best that we can be. An ehrlicher Yid, by definition, is striving ever upwards. Not fanatic, not apathetic, just cheerfully confident that self-improvement really is happening. And any expectation to be like anyone else, which can lead to discouragement, is out of place.
The Malbim comments on the passuk (Tehillim 105:4), דרשו ה' ועוזו בקשו פניו תמיד - Search out Hashem and His might; seek His Presence always. Why is there only searching and seeking with no mention of finding anything? Because the ladder of spiritual striving has no uppermost rung. It's endless. There's no end goal, per se. True, clarifying our aims and setting goals are necessary; they urge us on and help us stay focused and on track. Ultimately, however, it's the upward climb that means the most.
The road stretches ever upwards until your ambition is for nothing more than to fulfill His ambition for you - a lifelong journey along the Royal Highway where your every footstep tells Him of your love.