016: Lowering the bar
Figuratively lowering the bar for yourself has been one important philosophy I've been practicing recently. Although it's easier said than done, like most success principles, I love this one specifically because it's whole purpose is to take a step back and ease the pressure on yourself. To me, lowering the bar applies to social, professional, relational, academic, and most parts of my life. When you "lower the bar" for yourself you're letting go of high expectations that tend to restrict you more than motivate. Using this philosophy I am trying to strengthen the neural pathways that connect with feeling accomplished and happy. This is not letting of big goals and instead being happy with eating a cupcake on the couch. It's a way to love getting to your big goals by loving each small step along the way. If you can't be happy with each little success I don't ever see any way to sustain yourself to get the BIG win.
A story I heard and personally love about this philosophy was from a starting and struggling writer. He had recently graduated college with the fervor and motivation to become one of the top journalists is his field. He quickly realized while working under a slew of deadlines, supervisors, and critics that the road to the top was a long winding marathon rather than a sprint. Luckily, one of his mentors and supervisors shared a similar philosophy of setting the bar lower for himself. He roughly said, "You need to commit to writing everyday no matter what you are feeling: good or bad, inspired or beat down, passionate or tired, free or blocked. If you find yourself struggling to finish an article, write a page. If you can't write a page, write a paragraph. If you can't put a paragraph together, just write a sentence. Just write down anything you enjoy that day and time. If you turn in one sentence to me today, but love that sentence, that's fine because you succeeded that day." ... Beating yourself down does nothing but inhibit passion and work. I'm practicing this philosophy every time I feel like I'm doing my best. Once I can turn my big daunting goals into small achievable wins I can take the pressure off, feel more comfortable where I am, be happier with myself, and still be moving forward.
Quick Tips
1. Take the pressure off yourself whenever you feel it. If you can slowly learn to trust what you're doing you will see that pressure only inhibits yourself.
2. Don't compare what your doing to anyone else, no matter how similar they seem everyone has their own highs and lows.
3. Practice congratulating yourself on little things like brushing your teeth, eating a piece of fruit, holding the door for someone, etc. Lowering the bar and being happy with your little successes will lead to the big wins.
