Get A Little Closer
I was listening to an inspirational video from Denzel Washington and in the video, he was giving some advice. There was one thing he said one thing that really stuck with me. “Don’t confuse movement with progress.” He mentioned how his mom used to tell him he can run in place and still be going nowhere. I found that to be so powerful, especially in regard to entrepreneurs in the business world. It seems we tend to do a lot of moving, but not a lot of progressing and the lack of progression really gets us to a place where we become despondent. In other words, we start operating in self-doubt, and even start to wonder “What's the point? Why am I doing this? Why did I even start? I'm not capable…”
Jeremy Guilley said, "Everything starts with one step, or one brick, or one word or one day." The thing that you have to understand is that it's not about perfection it's about progression and if you're progressing then you're getting closer to your goals. If you're moving, you're getting closer to your goal. If you are putting into action the things that you need to implement (your action plan or whatever it is) you are getting closer to your goals. I don't want you to be discouraged, I just want you to start moving and progressing towards progression—not running in place but moving towards the accomplishment of your goals.
The only way that you're going to be able to move towards your goal is to put an action plan in place. I call this a global positioning plan. In other words, you can come up with a desired destination, you can come up with goals, but if you don't actually break it down into small bite sized pieces so that you're able to implement them then you won’t get any closer to where you want to be. Even if you just accomplish a little bit at a time. Perhaps you don't get it all off your plate but, even accomplishing a little bit at a time, you'll start to see that progression and realize that you're closer today than you were yesterday. But only if you're moving towards it. If you're running in place don't expect to ever reach the end of your goal.
Here is a tip to get you closer (I am only giving you one so that you don’t get overwhelmed and get tempted to procrastinate :-))
1. Make a To-Do-List: It sounds so simple and write it down on paper. At the end of the evening or the beginning of your day—whichever you prefer—you should write down three things that you need to accomplish in that day to get you closer to your goals. When you wake up in the morning, you review this list and you think about what all you need to do to get it done, you sit down, and you tackle it. If you don't accomplish anything else in that day, at least you have gotten closer to your goals; closer to your objectives; closer to your destiny; closer to walking in purpose. Closer. Then when you stop to take evaluation, you won't be discouraged anymore because you're doing something. You're making progress. You're not just stagnant.
Running in place can be deceiving. It’s like you can deceive you into thinking, “well I'm moving and I'm doing this and I'm doing that, and I am not any closer. It deceives you into thinking you are working hard! And you are. The reality is that you’re expending a lot of energy, but you're not actually doing anything that gets you closer to your goals. And yes, if that is the case, then you will wake up like “what's the point?” If you want to actually move closer to your goals, then come check D. Mack Consulting Group out and we can help you get there. But in the meantime, you can start with baby steps. Make a list. Stick to it. Accomplish something on that list. Even if you just come up with one goal of something that you're going to do to get you closer, you would have been successful. Be encouraged!