Acknowledging Progress

Merriam-Webster defines progress as a forward or onward movement (n.); gradual betterment (n.); to move forward (v.).

It’s easy to forget to acknowledge progress. It’s easy to focus on the goal and overlook the roadmap we need to get there. But you can’t reach your destination without all the lefts, rights, and roundabouts along the way. You can’t reach the landing without first climbing the steps.

I’ve been thinking about progress a lot lately. How easy it is to overlook the milestones you reach along the way to accomplishing something you’ve set out to achieve. Mostly, I’ve been thinking about how I both love and hate setting goals.

Some people would consider me a perfectionist, but I don’t think that’s true. Maybe at one point, so I guess if anything I’d be okay with being called a reformed perfectionist. Personally I would just say that I have high expectations for myself. And that setting big goals is a way for me to create focus.

But goals are tricky. We tend to set them to timelines that are often wrong and numbers that are often arbitrary. We tend to be overly optimistic about time; so we are good at underestimating how long it will take us to do something. Which means an accomplishment can still feel like a failure, especially if we didn’t achieve it fast enough.

And if you’re like me, what do you do almost immediately after reaching a goal? You set your sights on a new one, never feeling satisfied for long with how far you’ve already come. When you are focused on big dreams, it’s easy to forget to acknowledge the progress you make on the way there.

I have spent a lifetime setting ambitious goals and I don’t see that changing. There isn’t any fun in perfection, so I don’t try for that. Goals are meant to be a challenge, and I don’t expect [or want] to be good at everything I try. I’ve learned that you can find a lot of value in failure, and in making adjustments.

When I set goals, for most of my life I’ve been focused on the outcomes. I see the roadmaps and I’ve been good at navigating them, but I was always focused on the next turn, reaching the next stop on the route. Rarely would I give myself the time to stop long enough to take in the view.

But lately I’ve adjusted how I set goals. I’ve focused on keeping my timelines vague, and my results flexible. My goals are just as big as they’ve ever been. They are simply less structured than they used to be. I’ve been focusing on the roadmap instead of worrying about reaching an exact destination at a specific time.

It’s been nice to see my goals as traveling in a general direction and having time to explore. It’s been nice to not constantly feel like I need to catch my breath. I feel like I’ve been moving slower, but it also feels like I’ve been accomplishing more. In adjusting, I’ve found it easier to appreciate the progress I make every day.

Now I take the time to acknowledge my progress. By taking the time to be satisfied by what I’ve already accomplished, I’m finding myself dreaming up even bigger dreams. I’m finding myself confident that I’ll get there too, wherever I happen to be going.