Do you ever feel like you’re wading through treacle, making slow progress and everything takes much longer than you think it should? Or perhaps your ‘to do’ list seems to be growing rather than getting shorter? Or have you ever started on a piece of work and realised that there was much, much more to do than you realised?
Sometimes progress can feel slow.
Or maybe you’re just feeling exhausted. Worn out by pivoting, flexing and adapting to the constant turmoil in the world. Tired of spinning plates, dodging curveballs and running on that hamster wheel.
I get this.
I was reminded in my mastermind group last week that even though I hadn’t got to where I wanted to be with a project and I felt that my progress was slow, that I had actually got a lot done.
It can be really hard to acknowledge that even though you’ve not moved forward at lightning speed that you have still made progress.
Slow progress is still progress.
Sometimes it can be two steps forward and one step back, but every single step forward counts. There’s not much to be learned by doing nothing, and so every step backwards means that there has been some learning. And learning is progress.
Angela Duckworth talks about grit – how tenacity and perseverance count for a lot when it comes to success – according to Duckworth’s research grit is more important than talent. You can check out how gritty you are here.
The next time you’re feeling that you’re not making progress my tips are;
- Remember that you are human and not a superhero
- Regularly make note of the progress you’ve made and share it with an accountability buddy, manager or teammates
- Remind yourself that there is learning in backwards steps and therefore even a step backwards is still progress
- Put a sticky note somewhere that you will regularly see it that says ‘slow progress is still progress’ and say it out loud to remind yourself at every opportunity.
And finally. Keep going. You’ve got this.