PROGRESS NOT PERFECTION

“Sometimes in life we overlook our progress because we have the expectation of perfection.”

Have you ever gotten to a place in life where you felt like you were overlooked and everyone else was succeeding? You felt like God somehow passed you by, or He’s forgotten all about you? I’ve been to that place in my life before. In that moment, it’s hard to take the time to think about your progress; when the flood of emotions from your expectations have you drowning in despair.

In those exact moments it’s important to recognize the progress you have made. When we take time to reflect on our progress, it gives us hope in knowing how far we can go; the more you do, the more you realize you can do. It keeps us in a state of hopefulness for the future. We limit our ability to appreciate the season when we fail to reflect on our progress.

Psalms 77:11 But then I recall all you have done, O Lord; I remember your wonderful deeds of long ago.

Expectations can cause us to limit an experience of progress that’s designed to keep us hopeful. When we are stuck on thinking about “how something could have been better.” It hinders us from seeing the beauty of the moment or experience. When we already have a preconceived idea of an experience in our mind, it causes us to disengage from the moment. This hinders our ability to see progress. Why? Because we have the expectation for perfection.

Perfection is what many people strive for but have yet to reach. Why? Is it because we are striving for something that’s impossible? Yes, striving for perfection gives us the possibility of reaching excellence, but never perfection. Perfection motivates us to give 100%, but it also conditions us to have the expectation for perfection in all that we do. This conditioning causes us to crave perfection and by default we overlook our progress.

When we learn to appreciate progress, it keeps us in the mindset of taking life one day at a time and one step at a time.  These are some tips I’ve learned in my journey towards progress in life.

P-Plan: In order to see progress, you must have a plan. Having a plan helps you to feel prepared and gives you something measurable to show how you are growing and progressing through life. When we fail to plan our lives we are in danger of failing into someone else’s plan for our lives. When you fail to plan, you plan to fail.

R-Realistic: We must have a plan and goal that’s realistic. It has to be something that’s possible to obtain. When we have goals that are realistic, we are more likely to reach them. 

O-Open to change: Things won’t always happen as you expect them to, so you must be open to change. Sometimes change can be challenging because we like things to be a certain way, but if you’re not challenged you won’t be changed. Challenges have a way of pulling things out of us and getting us to a place where we can be transformed.

G-Growing: Challenge yourself to grow in this season. How are you developing yourself? What are you putting in that will give you the best return? Reading Books, listening to podcast, and attending conferences are some ways you can grow personally. We will only go as far as our capacity to grow.

R-Ready: We must be ready to take on life’s challenges and experiences. We must learn to identify where we are and what we need to be successful in each season. We must be able to shift our thinking to know what moves we need to make in order to get what we need out of each season.

E-Excited: Be excited about where you are and how far you have come. We must learn to celebrate our progress. Progress give us hope for the future. Understanding how far you have come will help you realize how far you can go.

S-Steady: We must be steady in following through, with the plan that we have made. Allow nothing to stop your progress. Do whatever it takes to stay on the right path. Be consistent in developing yourself.

S-Successful: When you are giving each of these steps all you have, you can truly be successful. Life will never be perfect but if you are intentional about how you grow you will make progress. Progress will give you the hope you need to see those dreams in your heart come to past.

Celebrate your progress, life will never be perfect!

Psalms 119:96 Even perfection has its limits, but your commands have no limits.

#ProgressnotPerfection #Hope #Growth #Getbettereverday #Celebrateyourprogress #Beintentional

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