Watching a YouTube video recently, I was inspired by one tip the creator gave which she learned from someone else. (Watch her video here.) Instead of looking at how far you still need to go, she advised people to frequently look at how far they had come. This helped me as I have been frustrated recently over my perceived lack of progress toward my professional goals. However, when I heard her advice, I stopped and smiled.
It’s true that I haven’t reached the level I want to reach yet, but I’m far from where I started. I began with one meandering blog that drifted from subject to subject whenever I felt like posting. It didn’t have much traction. While I’m still working on scheduling posts in advance, I have been much more consistent than before. Plus, I have geared that blog in a particular direction, which was difficult but important.
What I have realized is how much farther my loose business plan has gone. I now have three blogs and a fourth in the works. Plus, I have ideas for more niche blogs. I’m experimenting with a YouTube channel, and it teaches me as much about what works as what doesn’t. Just yesterday, someone gave me another content idea that meets two of my criteria, and I’m just trying to stem the creative flow to a manageable level right now.
Just when I was worrying that my plan was heading nowhere fast, I took this creator’s advice, and it boosted my confidence. We all need a little boost when the cold weather starts in, and I needed her advice to refocus my attention. Sure, I’m not where I want to be, but I’m certainly not sitting still in the way of progress. I’m just taking it a step at a time, and from now on, I want to look back and think about where I started versus where I am now. One day, I’ll be where I wanted to be all along, and all the time will have been worth it.
If you find yourself struggling to see your end goal, take a moment to look back at where you have come from. It may be just the thing you need to do. Odds are that you have come much further than you realize, but it takes looking backward to see it.
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Inspirational Verse for the Day:
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come! (2 Corinthians 5:17, CSB)
All Things Subject to Change 