You Were Made To Progress

Every day of your life you depend on the risks, failures, and successes of others. Every innovation that you count on, came at the cost of others. So why is it that we are so often afraid to walk into the unproven waters of progression?

The first time I watched this video, I watched it with my mouth open, jaw on the floor. Robbie Maddison had done something that no one had ever done before. He took a possibility and he pushed it into reality. He rode a freakin’ motorcycle on a wave!

While this video is amazing to watch and packaged perfectly, the “behind the scenes” is where the real story happens. They are filled with months and even years of “No!”, “Impossible” and “It can’t be done!“. They are filled with sinking motorcycles, painful crashes, and countless opportunities to quit…but he didn’t!

So why do we quit so quickly?

Simply put – Because it’s much easier to watch and wait for someone else to run the risk and pay the price of progression. It’s makes more sense to stay stuck and wait till it’s safe to copy and paste.

But that’s not what God created you for! You were made to grow. You were made to transform. You were made to walk by faith. You were made to progress.

Here’s a couple thoughts on how you can pursue personal progression this week…

1) Give 15 minutes to something impossible today

Think of that one big idea, that one project around the house, that one piece that you’ve been wanting to write. Depending on the risk it will require and potential for failure, you’ve probably been circling around it for some time now. What would it look like for you to give just 15 minutes to it for 5 days in a row? One week of a focussed 15 minutes to try to fail to start to continue. What do you think might happen if you gave an hour and 15 minutes to the impossible this week?

2) Reframe Failure

I HATE failing. I don’t like looking like I don’t know what I’m doing and I don’t want to do it if I can’t be the best. Maybe you can relate. But it’s that fear of failure that can so often keep me from the process of personal progression. But what might happen if you reframed failure as LEARNING. Seriously. Each failed attempt is a step in the direction of progression…if you don’t give up. 

Think about it, when you were a baby learning to walk, your parents didn’t call you a failure when all you could do was crawl or every time you fell after a few steps. You were failing at walking…but you didn’t give up…at least I hope you didn’t. What might happen if you looked at your terrible first draft, your awkwardly incomplete song, your low metrics as LEARNING. Take as much as you can from them…and take another step forward.

3) Put It Out There

Pressure is a terrible feeling, but a fantastic teacher. Putting your project, your piece, your new system out there…before it’s perfect is one of the best things you can do. At some point Robbie Maddison had to tell his friends and sponsors that he was going to ride a motorcycle on a wave. Regardless of their reaction. Putting it out there forces you to decide whether you believe in what you’re doing or not. If you’re not willing to put it out there…you probably don’t believe it what you’re doing. BUT…when you do put it out there, you open yourself up to the help and support of others. There is no collaboration in isolation. Sure, you might receive criticism or worse no interest…but you also might receive help, support, partners, and advocates. What would it look like for you to give yourself a deadline…and no matter what…you put it out there? Could you do that today?

There is no Collaboration in Isolation.  Share This

Personally, I have been sitting on a half finished Children’s Book, Podcast, and a course on how to Speak Well. I have a million excuses for why I haven’t moved forward with these projects…but not one good reason. So I am taking my own advice and personally pursuing progression with each of these over the next month. I am scared and thrilled and inspired about it all. But I refuse to let fear and failure win. God made me for more than that. And the same is true of you.


So…where do you need to personally pursue progression? How can you this week take ONE STEP forward. 
I’d love to hear about it. And I’d love for this space to be a space where we spur and cheer each other on into becoming all of who God created us to be and where we get to work on our dreams!
Share what you’re working on in the comments below!

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