“If there is no struggle, there is no progress.” – Frederick Douglass
What motivates you to move forward?
This is an important question to ask if you feel stuck, goalless, or just feeling like your spinning your wheels. I have found that two things happen that can cause us to lose track of where we are and what we want—good things and bad things.
Good things are the things that make us feel like we’ve made it. We’re exuberant, we’re calm and collected, we get a sense of confidence. People also tend to slack off during these periods, at least I do. Bad things are those things that cause us to feel bad, feel worthless, feel like all we are doing is a waste of time, and so on. These things tend to make us feel like all we are doing is an absolute waste of time.
When we are progressing through life, we will have good times and bad times. How can we continue moving forward despite the good and bad things that are inevitable? Stay balanced. Realize that good and bad are defined by us. Realize that both good times and bad times have a time limit. They will fluctuate between one another. At other times we will be in a balanced state, sort of like an equilibrium between these two extremes. When we are balanced, we tend to stay on track. We have goals. We pursue them. We follow our plans. We aren’t thrown off course.
This is all part of life. We struggle, we make mistakes, we win, and the cycle continues. These are natural rhythms to the ebb and flow of our existence.
When you take on something new, you will make mistakes. You will struggle. You will fight against yourself and reality to achieve what you want.
The mind is designed to work automatically. You do something enough and your mind will automate it. This is good when you are doing positive things that provide value to you. It is not so great when those habits are harmful. Habits are the automatic things your mind will adapt itself to.
The key to building good habits, pursuing meaningful goals, and changing yourself and your environment for the better all require effort, introspection, and asking for help from time to time. The struggle is all part of pursuing the things that are hard, yet good.
“If there is no struggle, there is no progress.”
Until next time…
Dave
