Forward Progress

It happens to all of us. We get that feeling that no matter how hard we work, our goal never gets any closer.

Whenever you’re working hard to achieve something, progress isn’t going to be linear. You’re inevitably going to have to sidestep or take a step backward at some point. But the key is to use what you learn along the way to propel yourself forward.

Step Goals

As a varsity track and field athlete, I would work extremely hard at the beginning of the season. No matter how well training went, I had trouble feeling like I was moving toward my goal. It wasn’t until four to six months later that I would finally peak and see the payoff of months of training.  

The process of being a high-performance athlete taught me the importance of setting small incremental goals and celebrating the wins along the way. For me, setting a personal best in the weight room or running faster at an early season meet than the year before were indicators that I was on my way to achieve my ultimate goal.

If you’re working on a big project and don’t feel like you’re getting anywhere with it, try to take a step back and take a bird’s-eye view of it. Are there any small performance indicators that show you’re moving in the right direction? Could you break your project into smaller chunks so that you’ll have more small victories to celebrate along the way?

Trust the Process

When I was training with many of Canada’s top track athletes in Toronto, “Trust the process” became a daily mantra. We lived it. We breathed it. We truly believed that the process was just as important as the end result.

One of the biggest changes in my mindset I’ve made over the years is staying focused on the present instead of expending my energy worrying about the future. In the past, I would spend so much time focused on the outcome, that I wouldn’t allow myself to be present in the current moment.

Consistency

If you’re comparing progress day over day, it can often be hard to see improvements. But if you look at how far you’ve come month over month or year over year, often your progress becomes more apparent.

So take what you learned in the past and use it to help you continue making forward progress. But don’t forget to trust the process. And remember, just because progress isn’t always obvious doesn’t mean you’re not getting closer to your goal.