Connect the dots

I have learned quite a lot from recent experiences of working hard toward something and finally achieving it.  It  has made me stop and reflect.  I have been doing a fair amount of pondering on how I have gotten from point A to point B.  I think that might be the simplest way to form this question because I can apply it to several things that seemed to have developed for me.
The first part that I have pondered is whether or not I even realized I was at point A.  Of course, at some point it must have become apparent to me that I was at the start of something or I wouldn't have had any desire to move along.  Somehow I realized I was at a point (A) and I knew it was something I wanted to work on in order to become better at it.  I knew I was doing something that I enjoyed or something that was a challenge in a good way.  That must have been my point A.
The funny part is that I seemed to have skipped over a huge amount of time and have found myself at point B. It seems that way now as I ponder it but I know there was quite a bit being done in that time frame.  I have arrived here at a point (B) when I never expected to and yet somehow, someway, here I am.  I know during that huge amount of time I was doing things to stay on track to keep moving toward this point (B) but it was such a distance away I never really realized I was working toward it or making progress.  It was more about having that point (B) tucked away in my subconscious somewhere and focusing on the smaller jobs for me to do that would lead in that direction.
I don't know for sure.  I think that is why I have been pondering it of late.  I do have one thing that keeps coming back to me as I think through this whole process.  Certain people.  I have a small handful of certain people that I can look back and feel as if they have always been right over my shoulder.  There have been many times that I have kept pushing and have only looked forward and moved on all on my own.  But I have also had  times when I tried to look back over my shoulder to see if it was worth it or to stop completely when one of those few has been there to nudge me on.  I don't think they even know when they did that.  But I do.
So how have I gotten from point A to point B?  I guess I first needed to know there was a point to start from and to want to move forward and decide to put in the work to get there.  Second was to keep working at it.  It seems like it's last but can be the most important when I started to lose sight of my final point.  That is being thankful for the ones behind me that knew I needed to keep going when I wanted to look back instead of forward.
Thank you. 
TT