The Importance of Tracking Your Progress

Often when you start out on a journey of creative transformation, you may find that you can lose track of how far along you have come. Your subconscious mind can play tricks with you. There will be times that you think you have made more progress than you have and other times you think you have made far less.

The most reliable way to keep track of your progress along a journey of transformation is to actively track the changes. This can take the form of a journal, notes, photos, etc. It can easily be a combination of these things as well. In order to be able to readily access these notes, impressions and other forms of tracking you choose to use, it's important to have them collected in one dedicated place. This can take the form of either a paper or electronic journal. Choose a format that you are most comfortable with and that will allow you to make regular status updates.

The significance of tracking progress can become especially important at times of setbacks. You may find yourself so disappointed by a setback that you can lose perspective of how far along on the creative journey you have already come. At those moments it is important to be able to review the actual progress that has been documented along the way.

Your subconscious minds tend to delete, distort and shape your perspective of events to align with currently held beliefs that already reside in your subconscious. At times of setbacks, you may find your inner critic most active. At those moments, a progress journal becomes vital. The journal serves to remind you of the accomplishments you have already achieved and how far along on the creative journey you have truly come. Without this reference point, it can become easy to overestimate or underestimate your true progress. By recording your progress on a regular basis, you can keep a proper perspective and keep yourself from becoming too critical or discouraged.

There are three techniques that can help to you to keep accomplishments and setbacks in proper perspective. 

1. Planning Reflection Times

By scheduling regular intervals to review your progress on your creative journey of transformation, you can achieve a more balanced view of your progress. It is an opportunity to review what is working best and to incorporate more of those types of actions. It is equally important to determine which actions are not working as well and to make plans to replace them with more beneficial actions or habits. By reviewing your progress along the way, the chance of losing perspective and giving excessive weight to any one setback is mitigated.

2. Creating Balance Through Downtime

By deliberately scheduling time to rest and play during your creative journey, rather than waiting until your are either overwhelmed or depleted, you allow yourself to regularly recharge your energy. These moments of downtime can allow for more creativity by freeing your creative subconscious mind to find inventive solutions. This allows more creativity to percolate into your inspirations and actions. Usually when you are intently focusing on solving a problem, the harder you push, the less effective you become. In order to achieve results, walk away, focus on another activity and let your subconscious have free reign to play. This way you allow the solution to come to you, often with better solutions more easily. This can take the form of a workout, a massage, an afternoon off, or any activity that allows for rest or fun. Choose an activity that has the effect of recharging you on all levels - physical, mental and spiritual. By regularly scheduling down time, the risk of burnout or overwhelm is greatly decreased.

3. Celebrating Your Accomplishments - Big and Small

Planning a celebration for a milestone when it’s accomplished is beneficial since it can have both the effect of motivating you to move towards your next achievement more quickly and to acknowledge your accomplishment when attained. It is important celebrate both large and small moments in your life. There is a tendancy to save celebrations for the big achievements or accomplishments. However, the small achievements are just as significant. Regularly rewarding yourself with small celebrations can keep your spirits up over the long term and makes your entire journey more enjoyable.

What kind of playtime and celebrations are you planning?