Progress Is A Journey

Each year we have four season, Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. Life moves in cycles in many ways in our lives and sometimes our progress feels like Summer and sometimes it feels like Winter. However, this is not the end of the story, as Spring follows Winter and on it goes.

When we make progress in anything it will stop and start, it will take sharp left turns and the terrain will changes as you go. Progress is far from a linear step by step process. Life ensures that we have both challenges and rewards.

For a long time I saw progress as a linear process of climbing a metaphorical mountain, but real progress has metaphorical valleys and desserts, forests and oceans. I realise now a wiser way to think about progress is as a journey. It is the destination that should be our focus and we will figure out the route. As Friedrich Nietzsche once said “One who has a ‘why’ to live for can endure almost any ‘how’.”

How To Be More Successful

In an interview I recently watched with Jay Shetty he gave some good advice on what to focus on when it comes to strengths and weaknesses.

A lot of advice generally says you should focus on your weaknesses, which is half right and half wrong, according to Jay Shetty. We should focus on both our strengths and our weaknesses, but the key is knowing which types of each to focus on.

The research shows that successful people focus on their strengths, as long as they are hard skills, things that are measurable. These are the bread and butter of success.

However, they are complimented by soft skills, things like social skills, working well with others, etc. Without these skills the hard skills won’t get you very far. So, working on any weaknesses with your soft skills too will ensure you achieve more success, because we cannot achieve success alone.

Change Is Not Progress

Two of the Principles I live by are ‘Change is constant’ and ‘Progress is a journey.’ They are not the same thing, but they are both helpful.

Often people think they are making progress because they are getting a lot done, but doing the same thing over and over does not help you progress. In order to have progress you need to have a destination in mind and you need to push yourself out of your comfort zone and try new things.

The destination could be a losing X number of pounds in weight. You will need to change what you eat and your habits around food to take you to where you want to be. Just eating less won’t help.

Change is automatic and it requires no effort, but it is wise to remember the nature of change, and say to yourself ‘This too will pass.’ Both good things and bad things in your life are temporary. Remembering this will help us see the light in the darkness of our despair and the preciousness of our joy in the good things in our lives.

Understanding both change and progress are needed to live a fulfilling life.

Setting Goals For 2022

Over the past few days I have briefly covered the 6 Steps of the Pathway To Fulfilment to help you consider what goals you want to set for yourself this year.

As I have said, often it is better to build in new daily habits and aim to keep them consistently and to link these to your overall purpose in your life, if you want to make long term, positive change in your life. Goals are important too though, because they give us something to work towards and deadlines to hold ourselves accountable.

Whatever goals or daily habits you choose to undertake this year, commit, go all in and make this year an amazing and transformational year.