Movement and motion don’t necessarily equal action, growth or progress. Yet most of us sometimes find comfort in motion – thinking we’re doing something that may actually benefit us in reaching a goal. But when the accomplishment doesn’t happen we may buy into that stupid notion that we must “try harder.”
The key is knowing what to do. It’s an oversimplification for sure. I mean, if we knew exactly what to do – we’d do it. Right?
Not necessarily. How many of us have spurned the offer to be taught something – or to be taught something more correctly. As I grow older I find it quite rare to find people who really are interested in learning. Most of us don’t like to admit ignorance. We also find it somewhat repulsive that somebody else might know more about something, or be better at something. I mean, who died and made them the expert? Yeah, we don’t need their help. We don’t need help from anybody.
We’ll just grow on our own. We don’t need anything. We’re pretty stupendous already.
Seeds grow if all the conditions are right. The soil has to be sufficient to fuel the growth. Water has to be present in the proper amounts. Sunlight is essential. Protection from pests and other harmful elements (like frost) is also vital. There are many elements at work. It may not seem there’s much motion or activity happening, but at the molecular level things are quite busy. Growth and progress happen at a miraculous pace. There is nothing passive about growth – for us or the seedling.
With age comes hardheadedness. The lack of desire to learn something new. The insufficient desire to acknowledge that we can get better. Growth stops. Learning we once took for granted slips. Skills diminish. Some of it brought about by age – nature’s toll booth hits all of us.
Young or old would do well to learn that motion does not equal action or growth. Sometimes our growth is best served by stopping. Stop doing what you’re doing – especially if what you’re doing isn’t working. Sit down and closely examine if your actions are taking you closer to your goal. If not, why not? Is there somebody who can help you better see what actions might help you accomplish more?
Push harder is not a great strategy unless you’re doing the correct things – but not doing them with sufficient effort. Putting forth more effort is sometimes exactly what’s needed, but more often than not, in my experience, doing things differently is what’s in order. You’ll sometimes hear coaches talk about a loss by saying they’re not disappointed with the team’s effort. Translation: “We’re not doing the things necessary to win, but we’re quite busy losing.”
It takes the same effort – maybe more – to lose as it does to win. The difference is in knowing what to do, and being able to do it. Losers continue to practice losing, hoping that their motions will lead them to the Promised Land of Winning. Winners do things differently. Many don’t even work as hard, but the motions they do take – move them closer to more winning.
The question isn’t, “Are you busy?” The better question is, “What are you busy doing?” And, “Is it working?”
