Progress ALWAYS trumps perfection.
Struggle shows you are pushing your limits and gives you direction where you need to go next.
It is those pesky expectations that fool people into thinking struggle is a sign that they are not as good as they want to be.
Hey, it is natural to have expectations of the results you are targeting. Sometimes you beat them; sometimes you match them; and sometimes you fall short. However, no matter the outcome, there is always something positive and critical to your growth you can pull from them.
But listen up, progress is not pass-fail!
You don’t have time to categorize your experiences, efforts, days, and years as good or bad. By doing that you are just finding excuses to justify what you already know!
The act of labeling every occurrence does not help you progress; instead, it forces you to stay stagnant and lose momentum. But so many people do it. Most athletes go into events and rides and score their performances on whether they met or exceeded their expectations. Did I measure up to my expectations? Did I measure up to the expectations of others?
From now on let’s reframe your experiences. Experiences, events, and the days that go as planned (those you’d call “good”) should be reframed as practice. You just practiced what you were already capable of doing. You are refining the process using the ability, skill, and direction that you already have. If everything went right, you were in the correct position, you nailed the nutrition, and you had the expertise for the job. It was a great day of practice. It is nice when it comes together. It’s your moment to enjoy.
In contrast, experiences, events, and days that do not live up to our expectations we should re-frame as growth. Growth only occurs in moments where we fall short, we pivot and have to adapt. When things don't go as planned, there's no reason to get down. You just found the barrier to your next breakthrough.
Let’s work together to progress in life and stop worrying about how that matches up to other people’s expectations or even our own.
ALL IN GROWTH NO MATTER WHAT