You’re Doing it: Keep Going

Our paths take some interesting twists and turns while we’re on this planet. I think you’d agree given we’re hurtling through space on a giant rock at 67,000 MPH, in a solar system moving through the Milky Way at 514,000 MPH, in a galaxy cruising the universe at 1,300,000 MPH, that it’s pretty hard to predict where we’re going to end up. So why do we constantly obsess about the finish line?

We imagine some ‘perfect’ end state, get furious at ourselves when we can’t attain it quickly enough, and sabotage all the progress we actually did make because it wasn’t good enough. What if the perfect standard of beauty you saw on ‘Beverly Hills 90210’ when you were 13 isn’t the best gauge of your progress?

I recently read a story about a chef who was furious with himself because he couldn’t get his biscuit recipe right. No matter what he tried he couldn’t make them taste like what he had growing up. What did he have growing up you might ask? Canned, overly processed, far-from-fresh, Pillsbury biscuits. When he finally threw away the improper measuring stick he realized the flaky, buttery, wheaty, heavenly biscuits he was already baking were FAR superior to the canned garbage he had as a kid.

If you take one step closer to your goal today, you’re doing it right. Keep going.

If you put on your shoes to go run and stop there because you didn’t have the motivation today, you’re doing it right. Keep going.

If you ate a salad to get some veggies before you ate a Big Mac meal, you’re doing it right. Keep going.

If you tried to meditate today and got distracted by Facebook instead as you opened your meditation app, you’re doing it right. Keep going.

Be selective with what you choose as your measuring stick. Then, keep going.