PROGRESSION

Compare having a stream running behind your house to having a stagnant water. Which would you prefer? Most likely, you would prefer the stream. Why the stream? For one, it is flowing. Second, it is clear to see through. A stagnant water however doesn’t move. It gets dirty with time and would be the habitat to many disease causing insects. How does this comparison link to today’s discuss?
The house is YOU, your life. It represents the kind of person you are, factors that affect you, conditions surrounding your life. Situations where you find yourself. The success and failures you experience. The stream or stagnant water however, represents your reactions to these factors, situations, conditions of the house.
What then is progression? The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines progression as the process of developing over a period of time, a continuous and connected series of actions, events, etc. It also describes stagnant as not active, not changing, or not progressing. The act of progressing is influenced by the readiness to react positively to an action, situation, condition where we find ourselves. Stagnancy, however, is influenced by the feeling of being comfortable about a certain situation.
A man whose aim was to get a good job worked hard to get this dream job. He got it after a few years of working to get it. He evidently got his wish, but dropped his arm. He settled for the job and didn’t move forward. He was stagnant. Simply didn’t aspire to get better, to improve, to move forward. He got comfortable with what he had. While some people feel it only falls on those who haven’t gotten what they want to improve, this example shows that even those who got what they want can improve.
Take the owner of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg whose net worth is about $66.2 billion for example. He had Facebook, one of the few platforms that boosted social networking. Facebook made raves. Many people kept joining daily. Gradually, he made it accessible to people in many countries. He had made it. His platform was one of the biggest in the world. He was a Harvard university drop out, while in school, he started Facebook for students to match names with faces of people in their class. He took Facebook public in may 2012. That shows the extent of what he had achieved. Even with this achievement, he didn’t stop there. He wasn’t stagnant. He looked at what else he could do and that got him to move to purchase whatsapp for $19 billion in 2014. Those who built Whatsapp got 50x return on their initial investment. You can check for the history of the men who built Whatsapp. You’ll see they also moved, progressed.
The term progression is sometimes underrated as many prefer staying in their comfort zone. Once they’ve attained that level where their mind tells them they can, they tend to stop. Progression is not limited to just one area. It also includes education, language speaking, acquiring a skill set. We never stop learning till we die so why should we limit our ability to learn and improve.
Remember the first comparison? The stream and the stagnant water. Being as a stream, you look to progress, try something better. You’ll like yourself when you do. Never allow factors, situation or condition limit your ability to improve, to be better, to progress.
ALWAYS SEEK PROGRESSION.