START CREATING DIFFERENT MILESTONES

Typical Milestones

The older I get, the more I realize how cookie-cutter the definition of success had been passed down to each and every one of us. You might be at a point in your life where you are celebrating something that is easily explainable to your family and friends. A new job, a new car, maybe you’ve graduated, maybe you’re engaged or got married recently. The typical things you know as markers of success, those milestones engraved in you.

Setting New Milestones

If you’re like me, you might be at a point in life where you’re not really sure what your milestone is at the moment but you’re still making progress towards a goal. Maybe that goal is losing weight or writing a book. Maybe it’s setting more boundaries or going to therapy. These are harder to explain to family and friends. Especially around the holidays.

When it comes to your turn to share your progress, don’t be shy. Just because your definition of success doesn’t fit with the status quo, doesn’t mean you aren’t working towards something. Sometimes we will find ourselves in the hard work years. You might have already ticked off all the standard boxes and your family is waiting for you to hit the next one.

Challenge them. Educate them. Tell them about your new drive. Share with them how you define success and what you are working towards. Sometimes our milestones don’t come with a certificate or a car payment (thank goodness for that!), sometimes they don’t even come with a direct explanation because you’re still working through that. Great! That’s still progress.

Don’t Compare Your Milestones

The time it takes for your success to come to light might be a different timeline than someone else’s. No one is working toward the same goals. Even if they are slightly similar, the what and the why will always be different because we are all different. Different things motivate us, different things satisfy us.

Just because you aren’t at the same checkpoint as a friend or family member, does not make you a failure or a late bloomer. We are all running different races. We are all different flowers. Check-in on yourself more than you’re checking someone else’s progress. How are you? What’s your goal this year? How about we start small, what’s your goal this week?

Reach the milestone that feels right for you. Even if it feels as if you’re the only one doing it. Especially if you feel as if you’re the only one. Open the door for someone else. We are all following our own path but it’s nice to see how someone paves their own.