When It Feels Like You’re Not Making Progress
What am I referring to when I say, “Feels like you’re not making progress?”
Mostly goals.
You have something that you’re working toward – maybe it’s a health & fitness goal or a college degree or starting a business or buying your first home. Anything like that. You feel like you are showing up, being consistent with putting in the work, but the needle just doesn’t seem to be moving. It feels like no matter what you do, progress isn’t happening at the rate you want it to.
Let me just first of all say, we have all been there before, girlfriend. You are definitely not alone in feeling these kinds of things and it can be super frustrating to feel like you’re not getting anywhere and not seeing the results you want from all the work you’re putting in. But I want to remind you of something: progress doesn’t always follow a straight line. Do you remember scatter plots from high school math? Scatter plots have little dots all over the place but the general trend of the dots when you look at them as a whole is upward. You have to remember that is what progress usually looks like! Not every day is going to be a giant leap forward and that’s totally normal and okay and doesn’t mean that you’re going backward.
You showing up and doing the work, even just a little bit, toward the direction of your goal is progress even if you don’t see it unfolding in real-time. There is a major difference between wishing for your goal to happen and committing to making your goal happen. It’s a really subtle mindset shift to go from wishing to knowing but it really does carry such a heavy weight and that mindset shift oftentimes determines the outcome of your goal progress. And let me make this clear – I’m not talking about a hustle culture-y, intense, tunnel vision, inflexible, unhealthily chasing after goals vibe here…I’m just saying you have to shift your mindset to recognize that as you pursue a goal, ups and downs are going to happen. That’s part of it! But think back to the scatterplot. The ups and downs are part of the journey but you’re choosing to stick to the goal for the long haul and not dipping out when you run into a challenge.
What I’m about to say isn’t shocking or groundbreaking but I feel like it still needs to be said: the results come from taking action, even small action, over and over again. Consistent, daily action is the bread and butter to making progress on your goals. Not from taking big leaps once a month and then forgetting about the goal the other 29 days.
Another reminder for you: for most goals, there are many different paths that lead to the goal. So if you’re struggling to be consistent, maybe your method to get to the goal is what needs to be tweaked instead of you throwing in the towel on the goal itself.
Adam and I love hiking – which is kind of ironic since we live in Florida BUT whatever, lol – every year, we visit a national park and do a few hikes and this example popped into my mine: for a lot of the mountains we hike, there are different paths to the top and the best one to choose depends on the person hiking. Some of the paths are less steep and better suited for beginner hikers and other paths are more intense that are meant for more seasoned hikers. Both types of paths lead to the top, but you get to choose which path supports you the best.
The same thing applies when you’re working toward your goals – think about what approach you’re taking and if there is anything that you need to tweak to make it a better experience for you so that you will be consistent.
Example: Let’s say your goal is to get your master’s degree in speech-language pathology. You can choose an online option that is a little bit longer in length because it’s part-time (meaning you take fewer classes each semester) or you can enroll in a full-time in-person program that takes half the time to compete but is really demanding of your time and energy. If you’re a mom who works full-time, the part-time program probably fits your season better and will allow you to work toward the goal of getting your SLP degree in a healthy and sustainable way, right? The outcome of both programs is the same but the path to get there just looks a little different.
It’s super easy to get swept up in the moment and forget to take the big picture into consideration. We have to look at our goals from a holistic, bird’s eye view – we have to look at how the goals fit into our lives – do they make sense for our season? Do they align with our priorities and vision? Are our hearts in the right place when it comes to pursuing the goal?
So if you’re working toward a goal and you feel like you’re not making progress, I encourage you to remember that progress usually doesn’t look like leaping. Progress looks like shuffling. Remind yourself that if you are being consistent, progress is happening whether or not you can see it in the moment. If you want to for sure know whether or not you are making progress, all you have to do is ask yourself, “Did I do something to make it a little bit closer to my goal today?”
If you answered yes, then your next job is to trust the process and do it again tomorrow. Believe that the work you are doing is going to be rewarded. You are going to reap what you sow. When you’re working toward a goal, your focus shouldn’t be on these huge strategic moves. It should be on making small, consistent moves. Those are moves that are sustainable and that you’ll keep doing. The work you do day in and day out adds up.
Let’s say the goal you’re working toward is writing a book. If you write a little bit each day, eventually, you’ll have enough words to make up a book – even if it takes you a few years. Whereas if you wait around for the perfect circumstances to align for you to sit down and try to crank out a whole book in a weekend, you’ll likely be waiting around forever and never actually write the book. It’s the classic story of the tortoise and the hare: “slow and steady wins the race.” If you come out of the gate sprinting (aka putting all of your energy toward giant leaps rather than small consistent action) you’re probably gonna burn out and not make it to the finish line.
Get clear on your goal (I recommend using the Hustle Sanely S.W.I.T.C.H. Goal Mapping Method).
Make small moves toward your goal every day or every week.
Trust that the work you’re doing is getting you closer to the goal.
Then repeat.
If you found this blog post helpful and you would like to listen to the full podcast episode, tune in below!
