Are You Making Real Progress?

(This is a reprint from my May 2007 eNewsletter.)

Consider this challenge from Howard Hendricks' book Teaching to Change Lives: "Write down the answer to this question: How have you changed... lately? In the last week, let's say? Or in the last month? The last year?" Not all change is progress, but without change there is no progress.

So, what does it take to make real progress in life?

Progress takes prayer.
Prayer is the source of vision, power, creativity, and blessing. Jesus told the disciples in the parable of the persistent widow in Luke 18 that man should always pray. If you want to experience more success... pray.

Progress takes persistence.
To push forward in life, you must be persistent. It takes persistence to stand up when confronted with the challenges of life. And, the only way to overcome those challenges is to try harder. As the saying goes, when the going gets tough, the tough get going. Some people don't make progress because they give up too soon. Never give up.

Progress takes practice.
You've heard the expression practice makes perfect. But, can we really achieve perfection? I'd rather say practice makes progress. Doing something over and over makes you better at it, not perfect. To experience progress in life, you must practice.

• Practice new thoughts. Your thoughts affect everything and everyone around you. To move forward you must have a positive attitude.
  
• Practice new skills. Make learning your passion. And don't be afraid to make mistakes. Mistakes are just opportunities to learn something new.
  
• Practice new actions. Nothing happens until you take action, until you do something different.

Progress begins with taking a first step. What step will you take?