I was just reading back on a journal of mine from 1999 and noticed I was obsessed with how far away I was from where I thought I should be on the piano. I had an ideal – to have enough competency to become a touring musician. I knew I was far from that milestone and reminded myself every night when I wrote.
I was just reading back on my own blog from 2016 and noticed I was obsessed with how far away I was from where I thought I should be at CrossFit. I had an ideal – to be quick, strong, and lean. I knew I was far from that milestone and reminded myself every time I worked out.
Old habits die hard.
I recently had a conversation with Ron Sams, the owner of the CrossFit gym I work out at (and all-around great guy). He reminded me how far I’ve come since I started working out a year and a half ago. He pointed to the flailing beginners struggling to do pull ups with aid of a rubber band that I’m now able to do without assistance from said rubber band. Good point, Ron. Thank you; I needed that. That conversation reminded of a post it note I keep on my computer (yes, on my own computer, which means, oh yeah, this is something I’ve thought about before and must think is important) that has a quote from business coach Dan Sullivan, which says essentially the same thing: measure your progress by where you came from, not where you’re going.
What this Dan Sullivan quote means is that we should measure our progress by looking back at the goals we’ve accomplished (where we came from), not by our ideals (where we’re going). Our ideals are important because they give us direction, but like the horizon, they exist only in our mind and they always move forward the closer we get to them. When we measure our progress on how far we have to go to get to the horizon, we’re setting ourselves up for dissatisfaction, disappointment, and an overall lack of confidence.
However, when we measure our progress based on where we came from, we see just how far we’ve come. We can see what it looked like when we started and we can see the trail we’ve blazed. True, we’re not where we want to be yet, but look how far we’ve come! There’s reason to celebrate… or at least find a little satisfaction before our next campaign forward.
Going back to 1999, I had a few moments of this system of thought. I wrote in my journal how I was listening to a recording of the band I was playing with, and commented that my piano work actually sounded pretty decent. I had improved quite a bit from only a few months earlier. In that brief moment, I measured my progress against where I came from. The band sounded tight and it felt pretty good.
And as for 2016: I may not have the kippy thing down yet, but I can do a few pull ups. All by myself; no rubber. And my one rep maxes are getting higher. That feels pretty good.
You might say I’ve learned this lesson 217 times and forgotten it 216. The good news is I’m up one. I’d like to keep on the winning side, so you if you happen to notice me comparing my current skill level with my ideal, please let me know.
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