Put more value in progress

Most people coast through life. It is easy to do. Sure, we go to work and pay our bills. Then, we enjoy our time off and the money we have to spend on things we find appealing.

But how many of us get to a point of frustration with our lack of results at some point in life? It might be that we always thought we would have more money by this point in life. Or, we thought we’d have a more fulfilling job. Or, we wished we were in better shape.

This is normal. We spend so much time with our head down plugging through life that we lose track of higher-level ambitions. We keep doing the same things expecting something to come in and change the results.

Everyone gets like this from time to time. I know I get like this. I have to stop and think about the systems and habits to make sure they are moving me forward, not keeping me stuck.

The key isn’t to blow everything up and start over. Instead, we have to learn how to make adjustments as we go. We may start with a vague idea of what we want but by continuing to work towards those higher ambitions, things become clearer. As we gain clarity, we have to make adjustments to what we are doing. We have to match our actions with the necessary steps to reach our goals.

We have to evolve. But evolution doesn’t always mean improvement. Sometimes it means we keep taking the same, unproductive steps. To change our perspective and stop getting discouraged, we have to learn how to shift to focusing on making progress.

Making progress is a great measuring stick for us. It allows us to block out external comparisons. Those other people with more money, a better job and better physique are distracting, not motivating. We need to focus on us, not them. We need to compare us to our former selves to see if we are improving and getting better. Making progress allows to know that we are moving in the right direction.

Using progress as a measuring stick also helps us to keep improving. If we are always trying to better ourselves, we won’t become complacent. We won’t sit around and feel sorry for our level of accomplishment. Instead, we will look at what we can do differently that could produce a greater output.

The third reason progress is a better measuring stick for success is because it allows us to reduce the unnecessary pressure that we put on ourselves. Instead of expecting miracles in a flash, we can see the true journey and how much is required to get where we want to go. This gives us confidence. It reduces mental turmoil that tries to guilt us to do something.

Focusing on progress is a key element to the systems and habits approach to improvement. By addressing the systems and habits in life, we strive to make progress and improve our lives. But we know it takes time and everyone has a different journey. It is misleading to compare to others. It is better to keep our focus on improvement. Then we can reduce the stress and anxiety that often accompanies the long journey required to realize our highest ambitions.