Mastering the Art of Always Being “Work in Progress”
Reflecting, learning, and growing, and the relentless curiosity to do and be better, have always been things close to my heart.
If I look back, I’ve always talked about and enforced the same idea: cultivating a growth mindset.
But actively doing things to grow is not easy. We often get lazy, unmotivated, or too comfortable in our own bubble to change anything.
Growth is uncomfortable. It requires us to constantly do and act. It’s not static. It’s not cosy.
Growth is change. And change means dealing with the unknown. And the unknown is not predictable. We need to learn to adapt, be resilient, and find new solutions.
We need to admit that sometimes we just don’t have the answer. But that shouldn’t stop us from exploring.
Our inability to get out of our comfort zone and actively pursue growth comes from the most basic thing: our insecurity.
We’re afraid to be found out, to be the one who doesn’t have the answer, to be the imposter in the room, to be judged.
That one single idea of taking a step outside of our comfort zone can really have a cascading effect.
It can be all of the things I’ve described above. Or it can simply be the gateway to getting better, to mirror reality and learn from it.
If we only shift our mindset slightly, we’ll realize that not knowing can be as powerful.
It can open up the possibility to learn, to really find out what our blindspots are and how to remove them. It can help us understand the reality of how others see us and what we can do to be better.
It can help us face obstacles, deeply know ourselves , our strengths and weaknesses and how we can turn these into our north star.
So how can we do that?
Over the years, I’ve learned that the most radical thing I can do if I want to grow is a regular self-inventory.
I usually do mine in writing because it’s the best tool to clarify my thinking.
I typically ask myself questions like:
- In what ways have you changed since last year?
- What are your values and principles?
- When is the last time you asked for feedback? What was it?
- How could you be more honest with yourself about your shortcomings?
- What have you learned lately? What have you unlearned?
Be honest with yourself. Spend some time going through these questions yourself and compare your answers to the last time you did a check-in. What’s different?
