Do you ever feel like you’re not progressing? This is a common feeling. There is a lot of pressure on us to do, achieve, and gain. Modern life is hard going. Consequently, we often look back on the past and dwell on what we haven’t acquired yet.
It could be a car, house, career, romantic relationship, family, or more money. The list is endless. The time we have on this earth is fleeting. It’s scary. We all just want to be happy, successful, feel loved, and have a sense of purpose.
With so many goals, dreams, desires, and ambitions in mind, it’s easy to think you’ve hardly made any progress. But is that realistic? Or are you catastrophising and clouding the facts?
In this article I’ll help to give you a fresh perspective on progress. Encouraging you to push forward to fulfil your dreams.
You Think Progress is Linear
Look at the diagram above, progress is not a linear line. It’s easy to think that it should look and feel this way. Perhaps you imagine that each day should feel better than the last, without any pitfalls.
It’s not that simple though.
Life has ups, downs, twists, and curves. Picture this. It’s like standing at the bottom of a mountain. It would be great to take a cable car, travelling on a smooth trajectory upwards to the top, with little effort. But sadly, that’s not an option.
You have to hike by foot. On the way up, there will be challenging terrain, paths, ascents, descents, and false peaks. Life is exactly like this. You’ll have good days; you’ll have bad days. But as long as you’re moving, you’re still progressing! Even if it doesn’t feel like it at times.
This leads to my next point.
You’re Not Appreciating All You’ve Done So Far
Imagine you’re hiking that steep, rocky, and intimidating mountain. You look up and you’re filled with dread. It feels like you’ve barely made any progress at all. But what happens if you look down at how far you’ve come?
This analogy applies to life.
When you’re focussed on all the things you haven’t done or acquired yet, it’s easy to forget about all the progress you have made. My suggestion is this, reflect on your life. write down all the things you’ve learned, gained, improved, earned, worked hard for, or been through.
That could include gaining qualifications, a job, something you’ve created, or reaching your goals. Also note down what it took to get there. Grit, determination, discipline, hard work, strength, courage, and so on.
Give it a go. You’ll soon realise that you’ve made much more progress than you thought.
You’re Expecting to Take Leaps
Progress doesn’t come in leaps and bounds; it comes in small steps. One by one. Just like hiking up the mountain, with each step you take, the further you climb. You can’t expect to achieve great things all at once. You need to chip away at them little by little.
So, don’t get frustrated that you haven’t reached your big goals and ambitions. Instead, ask yourself, “what am I doing now to make progress?”. If the answer to that is nothing, then it’s time for another question. Ask “what CAN I do to make progress right now”.
You may not feel energised, motivated, or enthusiastic, but you can always do something. Even if only working for 30 minutes, you are still making progress. It doesn’t matter how small a step you take today, it’s better than doing nothing. Isn’t it?
Inch that bit closer to success. Here, now, today.
“It is better to take many small steps in the right direction than to make a great leap forward, only to stumble backward.”
— Louis Sachar
You’re Being Inpatient
Ah time, our worst enemy. It seems to fly by uncontrollably. Many of us -including myself- become inpatient when things aren’t happening quickly enough. Sound familiar? We want things as soon as possible.
Let’s use another analogy.
Imagine you’re trying to get into incredible shape. Either by losing weight, gaining muscle mass, or a combination of both. This isn’t going to happen overnight. Not only will it take many small steps, but it’s also going to take significant time.
And even you stick your diet and workout regime rigidly, you’re barely going to notice the progress. The changes per day will be miniscule. However, if you took photos three months apart, you would see considerable changes to your body.
This is why people often stop exercising and dieting. They don’t see the results they want within weeks and quit. They convince themselves it’s not possible, or that it’s not worth the effort.
So, think hard before concluding you’ve made no progress. How long have you been working at something? Have you made some progress already? And are you expecting results in an unrealistic amount of time?
You’re Not Putting in Enough Effort
After reading and reflecting on the above, are you still convinced you’re not making progress? If so, it’s time to hold yourself accountable. Question if you’re making any effort at all, or being lazy, stubborn, and expecting things to fall into your lap.
To be blunt, progress takes hard work, persistence, discipline, and determination. The world doesn’t owe us anything, we all must make our dreams a reality. One of my favourite quotes is “nothing worth doing comes easy”.
So, are you doing enough? And if not, what’s holding you back?
This could be several things, such as a fear of failure, a lack of self-worth, confidence, or a tendency to avoid. If you need help figuring it out, consider seeking help from a therapist. One who can help you to understand your own thoughts, feelings, and behaviours.
“Strength and growth come only through continuous effort and struggle.”
— Napoleon Hill
Get Progress Into Perspective
It’s easy to lose sight of what you’ve already accomplished, or to think you’re not making any progress at all. But once you understand that it’s not linear, you can embrace your life journey. Even when things seem to be going pear shaped, don’t lose hope.
You’ll get back on the ladder in no time.
Reflect on all you’ve done so far with pride. This should encourage you to keep pushing forward. And remember that nothing happens overnight. It takes time, dedication, and little steps to achieve great things.
Aim high and ask yourself what you can do today to make progress. Take positive action. Remember that doing something is better than nothing.
Finally, hold yourself accountable. Maybe you could be doing more to reach your goals. If there is something holding you back, figure out what it is.
Did you find this article helpful? I’d love to hear your feedback in the comments.
Take care of yourselves,
Chris from Mindful Way to Be
