Trajectory > Position
We can focus on one of two things in life, our current status/position, or our trajectory.
In the past and still at times, I catch myself wound up with my current “position” with things in life. How good am I now, how far along am I now, what do I have now, what does my bank account look like now? I often observe this same mindset in coaching clients. What I’ve seen is an emphasis on the here and now, more often than not leads to dissatisfaction in oneself. Feeling like we aren’t where we want to be, in one or more facets of life. Could be a relationship, health, finances, a career, or any other potential focus we may have, and often can be numerous things all at once. In my experience, this mindset is most often demoralizing. It makes us feel inferior, unsuccessful, or just plain unhappy with ourselves and our current situation in life. Unfortunately, that feeling leads to less enthusiasm to continue to put in the effort to try to improve. Feeling like it’s hopeless, that we are stuck with the current circumstances or results. This can cause us to give up on things, our dreams because we can’t see the results and therefore don’t believe in our ability to create those results. It can lead to the thought that we aren’t where we want to be right now, and we never will be, so why keep trying?
On the flip side, when we are in the season of life where things are great, we run the same risk of being too focused on the here and now. Once again, I think this is the way things are and will always be. It can create overconfidence, and potentially complacency, and maybe inhibit our ability to see or prepare for future challenges we are bound to face. All of which could lead us to stop doing the things we have been doing, maintaining the good habits that have contributed to these positive results.
What I work to remind myself of, and would encourage us all to do is to create a focus on our trajectory rather than our current position. Asking the question, what does your trajectory look like? What have you made progress on, no matter how small? What are the things I’ve been doing that have led to these results and what will the results look like in 1, 5, or 10 years if you continue with your current habits? Take note of the actions that you do consistently, they are the ones that create those lasting results. Be honest with yourself about which will benefit you to continue, which will build the life you want, and also those that may be less than ideal. You don’t have to change them all at once. Focus on maintaining the positive ones, and then figure out how you can make changes small enough to make them sustainable so you can continue to build more positive habits that will keep you heading in the direction you want to go.
Regardless of whether it is in less-than-ideal times or times of celebration, what we do every day can affect and change our circumstances. We may not always realize it, and at times it can be hard to admit it to ourselves, but we are in control of our lives and the results we get. Because we are in control of the daily actions we take. Are we consistently doing the small things that will gradually add up in a positive way? Are we stacking the wins that keep our trajectory heading toward the life of our dreams? Or are we in a stage where we’ve gotten caught up and aren’t being as intentional as we could be to continue to improve?
So keep believing, look at how you have grown, and think about how you can continue to build the life of your dreams. Where you are now is not where you’ll stay. The great thing is, which direction you go from here is in your hands. I hope you find that empowering, and see that you get to be in control.