“First steps are always the hardest but until they are taken the notion of progress remains only a notion and not an achievement.” ― Aberjhani

“If there is no struggle, there is no progress.” – Frederick Douglass

I am blessed with extraordinary groups of friends.  We lift each other up, hold each other down, and challenge each other to become our best selves.  Often, one of them drops a jewel that is a word.  This one came in a conversation with my man who is one of the greatest corporatists I know.  In talking to a senior colleague, he was told that setting deadlines for his team was counterproductive.  Deadlines allow for procrastination, prioritization, and in the end, poor performance.  Picture this, you have five things due next week.  Instead of approaching them from biggest to smallest or tackling them organically based on what makes the most sense to do in that moment, you approach them solely based on… say it with me… the order in which they are due.  And for almost every single one of them, if you had only had a little bit more time, you could’ve made it sooo much better.  But you don’t have time to beat yourself up over it because there are more things already stacked up for the next week.  Sound familiar? My friend was told to shift his focus, and thereby that of his team, from producing to progressing. My brain went from “wait, what?” to “Oh WOW!”  Jewel dropped…

“We must always set the bar high, otherwise we do not progress.” Kylian Mbappé

“The way that you grow is by making constant progress towards your goals. First, you make a plan; Then you execute. Part of the plan won't work and part of it will work. The way that you grow is by scaling what works and ignoring the noise of what everyone else is doing better.” ― Geoffrey Ocaya

“There’s always something to suggest that you’ll never be who you wanted to be. Your choice is to take it or keep on moving.” – Phylicia Rashad

I had to marinate on that for a minute.  The more I thought about it, the more sense it made. What if we really focused on progress.  I get the potential resistance to the notion.  After all, progress isn’t graded, performance is.  There are performance metrics now and there will be in everything that you do.  You can think about all of this differently by intentionally centering making progress.  I am asking you to focus on progress and progress, the noun and the verb, and to focus on what progress inherently requires, a goal to move toward and actively measuring your movement towards it.  That goal can be anything from finishing an assignment to preparing for a test to working on multi-year research project. You can even set abstract goals like deeply understanding fundamental concepts.  Measuring progress will remind you that you are in fact moving forward and alert you if you are not.  Every day when you get up, be committed to doing something, anything to get you closer to one or more of your goals.

“You don't make progress by standing on the sidelines, whimpering and complaining. You make progress by implementing ideas.” – Shirley Chisholm

“Progress comes at a price. You have to be willing to make tough calls and take the hits.” – Aja Brown

Let’s be clear though, I am not saying that you can barely show up or not show up at all and say “but I made progress...”  You still need to put forth maximum effort.  Along with that effort, do self-checks on the progress you are making on whatever the goal is and adjust accordingly.  Progress can also act as an insulator from the noise from outside and the voice from inside that questions your understanding or your effort or your ability.  Use it to lend focus to your efforts.  There is a difference between starting a study session saying I am going to work on this assignment for an hour and saying I am going to work on this assignment until I am X% done. X can be any nonzero number up to 100, but if it’s really small, you might want to raise the bar a bit… JS.  Be realistic with your goals too, don’t plan to do two weeks’ worth of work in one two-hour session.  Pie in the sky may be delicious, but it’s hard to say for sure because, well, who can reach it?  Bottom line, you’ve got everything you need within you to become your best self.  Keep making progress towards that (even if it’s towards figuring out who your best self is) and before you know it, you’ll be past that and on to the next.  And you don’t have to do it all by yourself, teamwork makes the dream work. 

“Dreams are lovely. But they are just dreams.  Fleeting, ephemeral, pretty. But dreams do not come true just because you dream them. It's hard work that makes things happen. It's hard work that creates change.” –  Shonda Rhimes

“Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome while trying to succeed.”— Booker T. Washington

“Success is never final.” – Dr. Freeman Hrabowski

What are we asking you to do?

1.     Plan your work and work your plan. Set goals, work towards them. Finish what you start.

2.     Change it up. If one approach isn’t working, try another.

3.     Celebrate your accomplishments. When you hit a goal, make the time to celebrate. You’ve earned it. Then get back to work.

4.     Grow your goals. As you approach one goal, set another. Keep giving yourself things to strive for.

5.     Take care of YOU.  The world has reopened, but that doesn’t mean it feels or is safe.  As you move, take care of your whole self in real and tangible ways.  If you need help, get help.  If you need help finding the help, just say something, we are here for you.

6.     Take care of your business.  You are here to get your degree.  Life requires balance for sure but keep the main thing the main thing.  You have persevered through pandemic, campus closure, zoom, all of it.  Keep that same energy and get this done.  The world needs to see the brilliance you have to offer.

Now go be great!