Progress.

I’m not one much for resolutions. I like the idea of themes and red threads to guide actions. I like the idea of having a lens for filtering decisions and taking actions. I like the idea of identifying the movement already going on in my and maximizing that movement to help me develop the changes I need to be a better person.

The last theme I had was focus. I make these themes not as a short term decision but as a habit forming decision. I choose the theme based on what I need in my life and the movements I am already seeing in my life. I have felt myself fishtailing a bit as I have been traveling along. Whether I have been going too fast for road conditions or dodging too many obstacles I knew were coming. I have also felt myself making progress in some areas of life.

I know I am in a transition where ‘progress’ is the next step. Intentional, measured, regular, and focused progress. I’ve already started taking some steps. I’ll continue to take these steps and take more steps. This theme is starting now and will really pick up in the next few months.

Whether you’re choosing one resolution, a few resolutions, a theme, or nothing at all. Write it down somewhere you’ll see it every day. Make it your phone’s background. Make it your desktop background. Put a note on your dashboard you can’t miss.

Your change starts with you. Your change happens with one or two people who are going to help you stay accountable. Your change happens when you measure the progress and intentionally choose the difference.

I am who I am today because of the decisions I have already made. The habits I have today are what they are because I have needed them. My movement of late has been progress. I have been making progress and I can see places where I need to make more progress.

Who is going to help you? What change are you making? How will you measure the difference?

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The life I live has a story. It has a flow. My life is a flexible story. Sometimes I am the protagonist and sometimes I am the antagonist. At times I am making great decisions and the hypothetical audience is watching and clapping as they see these scenes of good decisions. Other times I am making the wrong decisions and the audience cringes. Either way, my life is a story. My story is a story about whether or not I am willing to grow past my hurts and fears and insecurities.

Likewise, most stories have a moral. The idea dictating the meaning of the story based on the challenges the characters face. Some stories are simple, like The Little Engine That Could by Platt & Monk. A children’s story delivering the value of overcoming challenges and the power of positive thinking. Other stories are complex with lots of different little morals along the way as different characters continue to grow and evolve over the course of the story. You might consider the original Star Wars trilogy or the Lord of the Rings trilogy as stories where different characters grow and mature over the course of the story and there is not one primary moral but many different morals as the characters mature.

The brilliant part about my story is I get to decide what the moral of my story is. I get to choose whether or not overcoming fear is going to be the moral of my story. I choose by deciding whether or not to face my fears. And, there will be a challenge after I face down my fears. There will be another challenge trying to hijack my story. When the next challenge arrives. I get to choose whether or not to allow it to control my story as well.

What is the moral of your story? Did you choose it or is it hijacking your story?

Storytelling,

–JT