How to Make Personal Progress

“It’s not about being the best. It’s about being better than you were yesterday.”

How does progress happen? How do we achieve it? If we plan our work and strive harder each day, would we wake up one day and discover how much we have grown?

Are we creatures of habit?

Like most people, I consider myself one. I have built an intricate web of routines to help me cope with the anxiety caused by the uncertainty of life. The question becomes if I hold on to the illusion that I can control my own future, would the unpredictability be more manageable?

Have you noticed how familiar faces greet you in the same coffee shop every morning? People have established their routines and go to places where they feel familiar and safe. Do you watch the same shows every night?

We derive a certain kind of comfort from doing the same things each day. We want today and tomorrow to contain just enough “deja vu” to remind us of yesterday.

But if there’s one thing I’ve learned about life in all my years of struggle, it is that becoming comfortable is the first step to ruin. If we ever want to achieve greatness, we must never become comfortable. We must break the habit of comfort that consumes us day after day.