Here’s what you need to know about making progress
Sudden and progress do not go together.
I was recently on a road trip from Houston, TX, to Austin, TX. It wasn’t a long journey in any way. It took me about 2.5 hours to get to my destination. But that journey taught me how to view and appreciate progress in life.
When I left my house, I had the address of where I was going; I had not been there before, I had no idea what all the road conditions would be, I was not sure of the weather conditions in Austin on that day, but I still embark on the journey. I did not let the uncertainties and those things I didn’t know stop me from taking the trip.
I did not just snap my fingers and find myself at the destination. I did three things. I started the journey. I kept my attention on the road, and I put my focus on the final destination.
Minute by minute, I kept making progress.
Mile by mile, I finally made it to my destination.
We all love to make progress. Progress brings joy and a sense of fulfillment to us.
To define it, progress is simply a forward movement toward a destination.
- If you are a student and you have been a C student in math. If you study hard and you have a B grade in the subject. That’s Progress.
- If you have been in debt for some time now, maybe about $50k debt last year, but right now, you’ve worked hard, and you’ve been able to reduce your debt to $30k, Yes, you’ve not paid off everything, but pat yourself on your back, because you’ve made progress.
- Maybe you’ve been struggling with weight issues; your weight at the beginning of the year was 250 lbs; you know that your ideal weight should be 200 lbs, but you have been working hard, controlling your diet, and exercising more; you now weigh 230 lbs. Yes, you are not at that ideal weight yet, but you deserve a thumbs-up. You’ve made progress.
Progress does not mean you’ve achieved your goals yet. It does not mean you still don’t have some struggles; it just means you are moving toward your desired position.
It does not matter what you are trying to accomplish; it does not matter the challenges or the uncertainties ahead, it doesn’t matter the height of the mountain ahead of you; if you can start, keep your attention on the journey, and put your focus on the destination or the WHY of your goal. I can assure you that you will make progress.
So what does progress require?
1. Attention
We live in a noisy world. We get easily distracted by what others are saying or doing. We let the opinion of others dictate what we should or shouldn’t do. We let external noises influence our path in life. We allow negative voices to drown our internal instinct and compass, and as such, we get stuck in a holding pattern, not moving forward or going backward. That shouldn’t be. If you are going to progress, you must identify the areas of life where you intend to work on, put a plan together, and be ready to execute those plans. I am not suggesting that you can’t learn from others; I am saying that don’t let them determine what you should do and where you should be or use them as a yardstick to measure your progress.
2. Direction
Our path in life varies. We often get into trouble when we compare our position to others. We will get frustrated and resentful if we don’t stop the comparison game. Life is not a race. If you have done a good job, paying attention to where you want to be and what you want in your life, then progress is all that is left for you to focus on. Don’t let your friend or neighbor be the yardstick for defining progress — you don’t know how long they have been on their journey. Their struggle and path in life may be different from yours. As long as you are going in the right direction, based on what you want, be happy because you are making progress.
3. Focus
I realized that in every journey of life, if we put our focus on the destination, no matter how long the road ahead may be, no matter what difficulty we may face on the journey, we will have the needed motivation to keep going until we get to where we want to be. Whatever you want to do, make sure your why is strong enough to drive you when you may be tempted to give up. Let your “why” inspire you to get up every morning to pursue your dreams. Let your “why” be your focus as you continue moving forward toward what you want.
Because:
Bit by bit, that’s how we progress.
Step by step leads to incremental progress.
Sudden and progress do not go together.
Each step you take,
Each action you undertake in the right direction
Will eventually lead to progress
You may not see results immediately.
You may feel as if you are not getting anywhere.
That’s because progress is not sudden.
“If you’re walking down the right path and you’re willing to keep walking, eventually you’ll make progress.”
- Barack Obama
