Tag: progress

Believe in yourself

“Believe you can and you’re halfway there.” – Theodore Roosevelt

If you want to achieve great things, the first thing you must do is believe…believe that you can do it! Because if you don’t really think it’s possible, you’ll subconsciously look for reasons why you can’t do it instead of finding ways to do it. You might have to think outside the box to get it. You might have to follow a path someone else has already cleared. But almost assuredly, if it’s a challenging goal, you’re likely to at least stumble along the way. This is why believing that you can do it AND believing that you’re strong enough to overcome any adversity that comes your way is so important. When you inevitability make a mistake, you’ll realize it’s not permanent, and you’ll find a way to move on and grow from it.

Believe in yourself. Make a plan. Take action. Re-evaluate as necessary. Persist through difficulty. And continue to make progress towards your goal(s) every day.

Progress, not perfection

If you won’t remember this specific event in a week (let alone in a year or at the end of your life), then stop worrying so much about it. It’s not a big deal. Don’t blow things out of proportion.

So what if you got a B (or C, D, or F) on an assignment? Does that mean that you’ll never succeed in life?

So what that you didn’t get 8 hours of sleep? Does that mean you’re going to be a zombie the next day?

So what if your kids have some chocolate or didn’t eat the most perfectly grown, organic/non-GMO food today? Does that mean that they won’t grow and their health is now in jeopardy?

The point is, we are more resilient than most people think and so are our kids (if we let them). Don’t think that everything has to be perfect, because it won’t be – and you’ll drive yourself crazy trying to make it perfect. Go with the flow. Be nice. Treat others well. Do your best everyday. But be kind to yourself. Understand that the goal should be progress, not perfection.

Focus is the key to progress, not balance

“To make progress, you must be FOCUSED, NOT BALANCED.” ⁃ Robert Kiyosaki

You can make a little progress while loving a balanced life, but to make the biggest gains, you have to focus an inordinate amount of attention on one specific goal or task. When you focus on one thing, you’ll be amazed at the strides you can make.

There is no such thing as a perfectly balanced life. Our lives are more like waves in the ocean, going back and forth. Sometimes we have a big project with a deadline to meet, so we have to put our energy in that, while other times we have the ability to focus more on our family, our health, etc.

We can try to be perfectly balanced, but will most likely frustrate you as you aim for the impossible. Instead, spend time in great focus on one aspect of life while maintaining other aspects, then ebb and flow to the next major category.

Getting things done

If you want something done, ask a busy person to do it.
“If you want something done, ask a busy person to do it. The more things you do, the more you can do.” – Lucille Ball

Have you ever noticed that when you’re really busy, you don’t feel tired until after you sit down for a break?

Or have you ever noticed that when you have two months to complete a project, you finish (and usually start) the project in two months? But if that same project was due in two weeks or even in two days you would still get it done?

Just like Newton’s first law of physics says, “An object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion stays in motion…”

Those who are constantly doing things and making things happen (setting goals and regularly achieving them by taking consistent action) will likely continue to do so. But those who “have all the time in the world” and are not currently in motion will likely not get the task done in the timeframe you want.

This is why it’s so important to stay in motion. Just get started. We should seek progress, not perfection. Perfection is a myth we tell ourselves we are striving for, but in reality it is masking our tendencies of procrastination. Done is better than perfect. Strive for starting, making progress, and finishing a task. Don’t get distracted with the next shiny object. Start something, finish it, then move on to the next one.