Yes we work for a lifetime. By high school I was seeing how many beinoni moments I could have, by sem i mapped out a path forward to becoming a beinoni, And recently, I’ve updated it to Tzadik.
The key thing is motivation. When you’re in touch with your Neshama and on fire for Hashem, these steps are my fun in life. If not there yet, even my NFHB knows it’s worth it to keep pressing higher. I’d all you know it’s which middos are good and which are bad, it’s gonna be real tough. Because when my NFHB is playing up it really doesn’t care if it’s bad or good. So the key is motivation and winning the NFHB over