Tomorrow is today.
“How long can you wait to be the person you want to be”? - Seneca
This ancient quote made by the stoic philosopher Seneca rings true even in modern times. Humans live with the cognitive distortion that they will have more time in the future, this is not the case. . . as you complete tasks and have gaps in your schedule, more responsibilities will spring up, filling the time that you allocated for your passion projects and things that the past version of yourself deemed necessary for growth. This cycle is endless, and relentless, and will cause stagnation if you are not careful to extinguish this thinking. I know I fall victim to this form of distorted thinking, “after this semester I will begin really diving into X hobby or when I have less of a workload I will be more strict with planning Y”, this way of thinking not only delays important growth, but it puts you passively at the mercy of your schedule instead of actively forming your schedule to serve your needs. This leads to time passing and growth not occurring. Over the next year, time will pass no matter what you do, at the end of this time will you be able to say that you made progress towards your personal goals or will you just wait to become the person that you want to become? From time to time I am guilty of succumbing to this way of thinking, but I have found three simple rules that enable incremental growth, allowing personal progress to happen.
Breaking up lofty goals into small, bite-sized, steps: Great things are typically complex, lofty, and stress-inducing, but achieving them happens by achieving small wins. You don’t need to complete the entire project in one day, you just need to make consistent and incremental progress. Instead of viewing a goal as one singular thing, break it down like you are a project manager. What are its individual pieces? What steps are dependent on one another? How can you make a small win today and how can you plan for a second win tomorrow? Remember, progresses is progress no matter how small. 365 days of small wins can set the foundation for large success. Instead of thinking, “I need to write my novel today”, think, “let me write a paragraph.”
Being intentional with your time: Responsibilities will always fill unstructured time. If you don’t block off time for your personal growth projects then guess what? You will never have the time to spare. Intentionality requires you to program this time into your day, it doesn’t need to be an hr, it doesn’t even need to be formally in your calendar (though I recommend this), but you need to know that at a certain time each day, you will be working on who you want to be. This could be during your commute on the bus or metro, late at night after your family goes to bed, during your lunch break, or just a random protected block of time during the day. Don’t wait for free time to happen, make it.
Reflecting relentlessly, but with compassion: You should always look at the progress you are making through a magnifying glass, “how can I improve”, “what are my next steps”, “how would I view this if someone else made it”. Always, and I mean always, look for points of improvement and ways that you can do better. However, you should realize your limitations, you will not create your best work if you are overworked and sleep-deprived, you will probably not be able to make art pieces that belong in an at museum after just taking an introductory art class, you probably won’t be able to efficiently learn a language if you are stressed about issues at work. Review your progress, make adjustments in your plan accordingly, but don’t beat yourself up.
Using these rules can enable you to consistently work towards goals that you have always wanted to achieve, they allow incremental progress which, when viewed as a whole, yields large changes in your life. Whenever you want to do something [no matter how challenging], remind yourself of the ephemeral nature of life and the importance of intentionally working towards your goals. Though Seneca asked “How much longer can you wait to be the person you want to be” rhetorically, the answer should always be, “no longer.”
Always remember,
#YouAreResilient
~Michael W. McHale
