Want to Achieve Your Goals? Focus on Your Progress by Measuring The Gain, Not The Gap

Look back at how far you’ve come.

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It’s not always easy to maintain consistency as we work toward our goals. And yet, consistency is often the one thing that matters most in pursuit of these goals.

Consider what Confucius wrote centuries ago:

“The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones… It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop.”

The challenge with consistency is that it’s quite difficult to sustain. One strategy I’ve found incredibly useful is Seinfeld’s “Don’t Break The Chain,” whereby on the very days you show up to work toward your goal, you mark an X on your calendar. Your objective then becomes very simple:

Don’t break that chain of X’s.

The idea here is three-fold. It draws you back to the present moment, pushes you to focus on what you can control, and reminds you that growth and expansion happen in the process, not the result.

You don’t become a comedian the day you walk up on stage, you grow into one day after day as you stretch yourself in the process of writing jokes. Likewise, you…