Many of us have experienced the feeling at some point or other that we’re not progressing fast enough in line with our goals. Not doing ourselves justice.
But how accurate is that perception?
Can you really trust that feeling that you’re underperforming?
Or is this judgement of your development based on a comparison of how other people around you are progressing in their careers and personal lives? Your colleagues, your friends, your family members.
Yes, it’s a normal thing to do. You might even say that comparing yourself helps you step up. But ultimately, you are you. And they are they. You are developing whatever it is that you need to do to get the next step in your journey. Whatever they need to work on is totally irrelevant to where you currently stand.
Sure, you might look at what other people are doing – a particular training course they are doing or habit they have adopted – and think, that’s a great idea: I should do more of that!
But these other people working on themselves is not going to change how fast or slowly you progress along your path! It’s also not going to make any difference to whether or not you believe in your own abilities and growth.
You do You
In fact, the comparison could well be adding to any doubts or limiting beliefs you may have regarding your self-realisation goals. After all, the Jones have their own issues to deal with behind closed doors that you will never know about.
So, what happens, when you cut out some of that external noise and just focus on You? What you need to do for you to move forward. What you need to do more of. What you need to do less of or completely stop doing.
Have a think about what you have achieved over the past year, 6 months, 1 month, week, 24 hours. Think about everything you accomplished this morning. Yes, this morning! Break it down.
The closer you look at your day-to-day activities, the more accurately you will be able to assess your overall growth and development and make informed decisions about what steps you need to take.
Keep track
Start documenting your daily achievements and positive choices, instead of thinking about progress through the distorted lens of memory or waves of personal doubts.
Reflecting on a short period of the recent past and the progress you’ve made can be a real eye-opener and prove immensely satisfying. All those smaller successes and improvements that you won’t necessarily notice or remember over a longer period of time all too often get lost, overlooked and forgotten – unlike less favourable events that seem to stick in your mind and smudge your sense of achievement.
The bottom line is most of us are accomplishing a lot more that we think we are. Just because we can’t see or feel it in the way we might do if we won a competition or lottery draw, doesn’t mean we aren’t progressing on a more subtle, constant level. It is ongoing. It is happening all the time – which is why the one key thing we can do for our personal development is focus on honing our self-awareness.
If you’re looking to sharpen the tools or self-confidence you need to stay on track with your personal goals, get in touch and let’s talk.
