Progress is impossible without change. Change makes us grow.

The river flows, plant grows, clouds move and the sun sets. Everything in and around us change.
Every single cell in our body is also either growing, regenerating or dying. We are constantly
changing at a physical, emotional, mental or spiritual level. The biological processes never cease to
occur and transform things. Both visible and invisible, change is the only constant in our lives.

The idea that ‘status quo’ exists is just an illusion.
If we are not changing, not progressing, we are regressing. If we do not work very hard to become a
better version of ourselves and grow, we are actually dying. There is nothing called ‘just maintaining
it as is’. Nothing can ever be maintained. The idea that we can maintain an equilibrium is a myth.

If you just try to be where you are, without doing anything, you are actually going backwards. Unless
we embrace the fact that progressing is the only way to maintain and grow, self-development within
personal and professional space is actually impossible. Just like a plant which changes with seasons
and constantly grows trees and bears fruits, it is imperative for us to upgrade our skills to survive and
flourish.

The art of progressing
As we just said, adding new skills is a must for our growth. But what happens once we are finished
doing that?

For instance, what happens once we master the skill of driving? We go on an auto-pilot mode. We
don’t really have to pay much attention to it. The learning is done. Change has happened. It has
become the new normal and we have got used to it. So, we stagnate again

Athletes and body builders know the importance of constantly adopting to a new training regime to
ensure that their bodies do not get used to the new normal. In order to keep progressing, they keep
challenging themselves and raising the bar higher.

That is what we also need to do. After perfecting one thing, we need to constantly move to another.
Unless we do this, we stagnate. And, if we stagnate, we slowly begin to die. Yes, it is not visible at
once, but it surely begins to happen, which is proven through grave outcomes over a longer-term.

How to ensure that we are progressing
Now that we have understood the importance of upgrading ourselves, its time to learn the next
steps. The first one is to identify the areas in you which needs improvement and the skills that you
would like to develop.

Assess yourself, acknowledge your bottlenecks and identify your goals. They will give you a list of
things to begin with. Now, that you have the list, the most important thing is to tread the path of
change with no more delay. Start immediately

It might look tough in the beginning. Changing things suddenly can seem scary. Remind yourself that
if you don’t progress, you will regress and it will give you the strength to take the baby steps towards
your new life. While you take every small step and make every effort, remember that it is going to take you towards new opportunities and guide you towards your dreams. This is the only way to become a bigger version of yourself, much grander that the present, and take control of your life

Be the change! Start now!