How to evaluate your own progress (and feel good about it.)

Have you ever worked towards a goal, only to feel like you can never arrive at the ‘endpoint?’

Say you want to lose weight… and you do. But you keep thinking, ‘just 10 pounds more.’

Or you run a marathon… but can’t help wishing your PB was a little lower.

Or you get a raise… but you’ve already started gunning for the next promotion.

Sound familiar? If you love progress, but feel like the endpoint— that perfect, happy place where you’ve finally ‘made it’—feels never-ending, you’re not alone. Progress is like a horizon. As we strive to improve, we run towards that horizon. Yet the horizon is an imaginary line: we can never reach it.

If we forget that simple fact, it’s easy to get frustrated, tired, or burned out. We never get there. “There” is imaginary.

So how do you evaluate progress in a positive and proactive way?

First, you need to look back. See where you started. Notice the strides you’ve taken. Use distance you’ve already traveled as your true measure of progress.

Then you need to look ahead. Think about where you’re going and plot out your next moves to ensure success.

First, fill out the questions about your progress. Next, fill out the ones about what’s coming next.

And no matter where you net out, give yourself a pat on the back. You deserve it.