Little by Little
This week I have had the opportunity to work on some large goals. But like so many things in life there are distractions, exceptions to the schedule, things you don’t count on and you have to remember to remain flexible. The progress that I hoped to make over the course of the week is not the progress that I made.
And yet I am incredibly encouraged and excited! Little by little progress adds up beautifully!
Applying Little by Little Progress to Your Goals
It is amazing what you can accomplish if you will remain faithful and enthusiastic about the goals you have set!
Personally, I have set some pretty high goals for the next few weeks. In June, I will be going on vacation and so I decided to treat the 13 – 14 weeks leading up to that as my second quarter of the year.
(Business is often conducted in quarters. The fourth quarter, of course, includes Christmas. The third quarter, back-to-school. The second quarter leads up to Summer. And the first quarter has you coming out of the Christmas rush.)
Though my second quarter is not technically the April through June time slot, I am adapting it for what works for me and my schedule! (And the fact is, I have come up with these ideas and plans within the past few days and remarkably, they line themselves up quite well to occupy the 2nd quarter of my year!)
I have been working the last week on some new big decisions. New areas I want to pursue and grow! In order to further solidify them I gave them a time limit. One thing that I have learned about goals is that they must have a time limit or you will not be near as driven to accomplish them. Especially if they are larger goals. Larger goals can be hard to estimate an intelligent time frame for and that can lead to not setting a time frame, and in turn, not making any progress.
So I created my own time line. Some of these goals I have no idea if a quarter of a year – approximately thirteen to fourteen weeks – is a good amount of time to expect to be able to accomplish them, in addition to work and other regular responsibilities. But worse case scenario, I set aside this time to really tackle these goals, make an extra effort and I see how much closer I get! Fourteen weeks can yield spectacular results – if I will maintain my enthusiasm and dedication to little by little progress!
Anticipate the Results
You never know what you can accomplish until you give it a genuine effort!
This has been my first week of a genuine effort on these goals and I am thrilled! I have worked very hard. I’ve spent late nights and early mornings working towards these goals – and yet I’m not a crazy person! I have done my best to work on them faithfully and studiously right up until Sunday. But Sunday is my day of rest and I flourish so much more when I remember to take the day to rest and recoup for the next week! It is a lovely opportunity to just breath and take a break and enjoy the people around me!
I was talking to a friend earlier this week and she asked me how progress was going on my goals. Firstly, I thought it was the sweetest thing that she had thought to ask and secondly, I was thrilled to be able to report that I had made a real effort and seen progress this week! Maybe not the leaps and bounds of progress that I would like to see, but baby steps.
Little by little progress is something that I feel like I’m frequently posting about – but it’s something that I’m constantly having to remind myself of!
Little by little progress adds up!
But to me, I like the idea of witnessing and experiencing enormous progress! As my sister put it, “could we just plan to hit a milestone every day?!” I know how she feels! Those milestones are energy-giving and exciting and they keep me enthusiastic about what I have to do!
But in order to hit those milestones, we have to make the little step by step progress – little by little. All good things take time. They take work. They take energy and enthusiasm. And they take faithfulness.
The thought of this just thrills me! This is an area – the little by little – that I am currently working on figuring out how to better appreciate. The interim. That space between the conception and the realization of a goal. And just as I came in to begin to prepare this post, it hit me – it takes faithfulness! This week, these efforts I have been making, the little by little progress that I am seeing, it is all coming together to help me further develop faithfulness. And I love it!
What about you? What areas are you working on? Have you chosen goals to pursue? Perhaps you are developing faithfulness too! I’d love it if you would share!
Until Next Time!
Hope.
PS. I love sharing stories – be sure to read this post where I share about how little by little progress added up quite remarkably in my life!