“Are you closer right now to where you want to be than you were a half-hour ago?” –Robert K. Cooper
The more often the answer to this question is yes, the further you’ll make it along the path of becoming better. And the answer to this question probably depends on your answer to another:
Did you spend the last half-hour with your eyes on the process?
In other words, were you engaging with the actual work of moving forward rather than dreaming of the finish line?
For some objectives, “where you want to be” is a place you can actually get to: meeting a project deadline, finishing the article you’re writing, launching a website. But, for your most important objectives, you’ll never actually “get there.” If where you want to be is healthier, happier, or more professionally successful, there is no finish line. If you want to cultivate stronger relationships with the people you love, develop a deeper sense of gratitude, or improve your capacity for mindfulness, there is no point to reach where you would feel “done.” Instead, there are myriad ways to make incremental progress, and everything counts.
For short-term goals that can actually be reached, asking “Am I closer right now than I was 30 minutes ago?” helps me overcome procrastination. It reframes what a work session is about, taking the pressure off. Instead of thinking, I have to finish this today, I think, Let’s just make some progress on this today. Ironically, thinking the latter makes me far more likely to get it done. And for those perennially meaningful, long-term goals, asking this question helps me overcome perfectionism and gives me patience.
This question also helps me celebrate the progress I am making, even as my goals remain distant, even as I fall short of my ideals. It’s often disheartening to look ahead to where you want to be and see that it is dreadfully far away. I’m finding it helpful to regularly check in with myself using this question. As long as I’m moving in the right direction, I’m succeeding.
And having this question in your toolkit does not mean that you should spend every 30-minute block of time working. It’s okay to shorten the length of time, asking, for instance, “Am I closer right now to where I want to be than I was five minutes ago?” And it’s also okay if the answer is often “no.” Remember to give yourself permission to rest, permission to have fun, and, above all, permission to be human. Keep moving forward patiently and persistently, faithful that the effort is worthwhile.