English Idiom for "the squirrel feeds itself arduously"
"Rome was not built in a day" = It took hundreds of years to build Rome.
- The proverb is usaully quoted by a person who has been blamed for slow work, or to a person who is impatient at not being immediately successful in what he tries to do. (Common English Proverbs)
"I worked all day and I feel like I didn't make any progress."
"Well, Rome wasn't built in a day.
- Rome wasn't built in a day: Important work takes time. This expression functions as an injunction or plea for someone to be patient. For example, you can't expect her to finish this project in the time allotted; Rome wasn't built in a day
This phrase was a French proverb in the late 1100s but was not recorded in English until 1545.
I am not sure if there's a proverb/idiom with the exact same meaning but I can suggest the following.
Every little helps.
You just took a baby step.
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
First step is always the hardest.
Wiktionary:
Alternative forms: every little bit helps
Proverb every little helps
(Britain) Even the smallest things are helpful when towards a goal.
Noun baby step (plural baby steps)
A small effort made towards the completion of a much larger task. Learning a new language is difficult, so we'll learn by taking baby steps.
Proverb a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step
even the longest and most difficult ventures have a starting point
TFD:
first step is always the hardest
Prov. Starting a new endeavor is the hardest part of it.
Fred: I want to quit smoking, but I can't convince myself to sign up for the "stop smoking" program, Jill: The first step is always the hardest.
If I can just start this project, I know the rest will be easy. The first step is always the hardest.