"If you are not PROGRESSING, you are REGRESSING": One compelling thought to enter the New Year with..

Whether, you are a Type A or Type B personality, it does not matter.

Whether, work is your life, or you have a life beyond work, it does not matter.

Whether you have a regular job or not at this point in time, it does not matter.

If you are a human being who cares to have explored your fullest potential in this life time...then THAT is all that matters.

And this philosophy is for you...

If you are not progressing,

you are regressing.

Dwight D Eisenhower said: Unless we progress, we regress.

Edward Gibbon said: All that is human must retrograde, if it does not advance.

In recent literature, this line has been used to summarize what Elon Musk said in context of technology at a Ted event:

"People are mistaken when they think that technology just automatically improves. It does not automatically improve. It only improves if a lot of people work very hard to make it better, and actually it will, I think, by itself degrade, actually. You look at great civilizations like Ancient Egypt, and they were able to make the pyramids, and they forgot how to do that. And then the Romans, they built these incredible aqueducts. They forgot how to do it."

What is true for technology

in general..

Is true for human beings

in particular..

That if we don't work very hard to make ourselves better, on our own - we will degrade.

Let us decipher this word "progress". It is often misunderstood.

#1) Progress is progress in the NATURE OF OUR GOALS

When we start off in college, our goals are like:

• I want X salary
• I want to reach this designation by 5 years
• I want to buy this as my first car
• I want to buy a home here

10, 15, 20 years later.... wherever you are in your life right now..

How do you goals look like? Are you still aiming for...

• I want X salary (may be with more zeroes)
• I want to reach this designation (may be with a fancier title)
• I want this car next (may be with more features)
• I want to buy a home here (may be with a premium address)

The exact same goals, even after decades.

Have we progressed? You decide.

#2) Progress is progress in QUESTIONS THAT ARE DRIVING OUR LIVES

I have written about this before.

We live our lives in response to some question we have asked ourselves. Many of us are not aware of this question; some ask themselves more consciously.

Elon Musk, is said to have asked himself the question on what will be the biggest problems to be solved for mankind, while he was still in college. It is that question that decided the course of his life.

What if he had asked himself instead, as an ivy-league student, how much net-worth I can achieve - what a loss it would have been for him - and the world.

In the Ted discussion referenced earlier, he said:

I just think there have to be reasons that you get up in the morning and you want to live. Like, why do you want to live? What's the point? What inspires you? What do you love about the future?

What question have you been living your life in response to so far?

Have you thought through that question? Is it a worthy enough question?

Have we progressed on the premise we have built our lives on? You decide.

#3) Progress is progress in RISKS WE ARE ABLE TO TAKE

It could be the risk of quitting a job, and trying another profession..

It could be the risk of letting go of a promotion, and taking a lateral role to learn a new function..

It could be the risk of becoming redundant, by empowering your subordinates..

It could be the risk of becoming insignificant, when you get off the social media grid to give all your time to explore yourself..

It could be the risk of not getting social approval and validation - when you are trying something new and bold..

People think risk is a factor of security.

When I have this and that, I will take the risk.

Ironically, we are always taking risks.

Even the most secure life is a risk of a life half-lived.

Of dying unfulfilled.

Everything is a choice.

Every choice is risking something.

Therefore, risk is more a function of wisdom of becoming aware of this eternal trade-off, and less a function of courage.

How have you progressed in your wisdom? How has it helped you in taking risks? In making, conscious trade-offs?

You decide.

#4) Progress is progress in ALL DIRECTIONS

There is a dangerous fallacy in thinking of progress as unidirectional...

and one that only goes forward..

For example:

There might be professionals on sabbatical, who did not get the raise or the bonus or the promotion; and are dealing with secret pangs of guilt, fear and even remorse of not having "progressed" in their career.

There might be professionals trying entrepreneurship, who actually fell backwards in all possible parameters of professional progress.

And, there might be people who got promoted, got raises, foreign trips assuming they have progressed, attending meaningless meetings and conferences, doing the same work over and over again.

Who is progressing? You decide.

Progress happens in all directions.

• It is moving forward, but often falling back too

Acclaimed Grit expert and educationist Angela Duckworth, talks briefly in her book Grit about the abrupt change in her salary, the food she ordered, clothes and shoes she wore, after quitting her job at McKinsey to take up teaching.

She fell back from where she was. Yet, that was the most significant progress that changed her life.

• It is moving higher, but also going deeper

We often treat spiritual pursuit as a back-up option.

"If my career or life does not go well, I will become spiritual."

Or, "spirituality is for retirement".

Nothing can be more unfortunate.

Spirituality for me is seeking greater awareness. One that leads us to live a better life, take better decisions, build more meaningful careers.

Often, the higher we go, the more shallow we become.

But that need not be the case - if we care to look deeper, as we go higher.

(I am talking of practice here, not intellectual knowledge about spiritual concepts. We have gotten good at that. We preach more than we practice.)

So, have we progressed in only one direction, or in all, in the past year? You decide.

As the year ends, the key questions that we must ask ourselves are..

1. Did I embarrass myself in the past year? If not, then you are probably operating very much in your comfort zone. Embarrassment is a pretty good metric to measure if you are pushing your boundaries.
2. What kind of people did I choose in my life? The ones who will largely do what I ask of them, behave as I expect them to - or the ones who will challenge me. Until we have the courage to be with people who care for us - but will tell us what we NEED to hear, and not what we WANT to hear... we cannot hope to progress.
3. Was it my year of SAND or ROCKS? We confuse progress with being busy. Everyone is busy. Not everyone is progressing. Management Guru, Steven Covey uses this terminology of sand and rocks. Sand are all the insignificant things we do all day - attend calls and meetings, write emails, spend 4 hours on the road commuting to work. That makes us very busy.

But rocks are your big goals. Your health, that skill you wanted to build, that article you wanted to publish... what happened to those?

In a favorite speech of mine, by actor Denzel Washington, he says:

Don't confuse movement with progress.

Movement is all the sand that fill our days.

Progress are the rocks.

What was this year filled with for you... more sand or more rocks?

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And the final point of introspection, the question we must ask ourselves every single day...

What is human about my existence?

Sadhguru, the founder of the global organization Isha Foundation, says something hard hitting across his talks. In essence he says,

Unlike other life forms, whose needs end at survival, what is human - begins after it. Alas, we are living our lives, in a human form, no better than other forms. We are born, eat, drink, rest, reproduce and die.

Every time I have heard him say that, it has stirred something deep within me. The ironical truth in it. There are human beings on earth who indeed have to fight for survival. There are many others, who are well above survival needs. Yet, our goals never evolve beyond..

1. How can I go for better holidays
2. How can I have more expensive food
3. How can I have a bigger house, better car

We might count it as progress, but those are still pursuits of comfort, food and shelter.

Therefore, as the New Year clocks in, putting an end to another year of our life (forever), and beginning another one..

If we could ask only ONE question... that should be..

What is human about my existence?

What am I doing beyond eat, drink, acquire comforts, bring forth the next generation?

I don't know the answer. I feel it is revealed to each one differently, when they begin to seek it.

Whatever be that answer for each one of us...

It is actually ASKING that one question...

that makes all the difference between...

The one who PROGRESSES, and the one who REGRESSES..

This New Year, I wish all of us Progress... of the real kind..

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(Disclaimer: No part of this blog maybe copied or reproduced or reused or republished in any way, except using the share feature of LinkedIn. Any other form of reuse, must be only after explicit written consent of the author.)

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I am a writer and entrepreneur. I have been listed on the LinkedIn Top Voices 2017.

While I write on a wide variety of subjects, my favorite topics are leadership, life & purpose, artificial intelligence and education.

I am the author of a unique book on entrepreneurship, called:

The Entrepreneur’s Soulbook — Is it your cup of tea? Link to the book

I run my own venture, the GhostWritersWorld (LinkedIn Page)/(website)

Connect with me on Twitter @swatcat_sj

My other LinkedIn articles are here.

Some of my favorite ones are..

Technology & product

1. “If Robots will do everything, what will humans do”: Why AI Rhetoric deeply worries me
2. “Justice delayed is justice denied”: Could AI and Data Science be the answer to India’s judicial backlog?
3. Flirt with your product ideas, don’t fall in love
4. LOL … driverless cars for India??: When AI meets Cows, Rajinikanth and Ganpati
5. Love in the time of Artificial Intelligence: Valentine’s Day 2030
6. “Who pays the price?”: Why PRODUCT INNOVATION without SERVICE EXCELLENCE hurts customers — the ETHICS of product innovation

Leadership and Organization

1. “If you are nothing without the suit, you don’t deserve it”: 3 cardinal tests for anyone who calls himself leader
2. 3 unforgettable lessons I learnt from an Indian Ed Tech Leader
3. “Oh! You are sensitive”: Why sensitive is a TABOO word — and LEADERS should consciously HIRE such people in teams
4. “I love solving problems”: The BIG problem with problem solving
5. “So why are you leaving?”: Don’t treat retention discussions like a ONE TIME date
6. Sophisticated-fear-based-management: 3 unmistakable signs
7. Interns or cheap labor? Making internship count
8. “Travis may be Uber, but Uber cannot be Travis: The curious case of Charismatic leaders”

Diversity and Inclusion

1. “Women can’t code because of Biology: 3 reasons it was a BIG MISTAKE for google to fire James Damore (perspectives of a feminist)
2. 3 taboo questions Millennials are asking, leaving hiring managers shocked
3. Why the ‘Corporate-style Women’s Day Celebrations’ gives me the creeps
4. The OOUCH of maternity leaves: Why managers secretly dread it
5. Man or Woman? Who should lead gender diversity? Why we are simply asking the WRONG question.
6. “She has good figure”: Why creating a safe place to work takes much more than just sexual harrassment policy

Life & purpose

1.”But I have bills to pay..”: Why the PREMISE we build our life on, DECIDES how far we will go..

2. “How is life? Well, going on.”: Why you should NOT quit your job, but GRADUATE from it

3.The Monkey Catcher’s Lesson: Why we get stuck in our jobs, situations, emotions..

4. “Anger is remembered pain”: 3 steps to healing from difficult experiences at workplace

5. “How is life? Well, going on..”: Why you should NOT quit your job, but GRADUATE from it

6. A “50-over-50” list: Pressures of adults “growing up” in a world of over-achieving youngsters

7. The (difficult) art of doing nothing and why it matters in a world proud of “busy”

8. 500 Uber rides without driver talking on the phone: My personal starfish story

9. “Here is a muffin that will make you successful”: The unspoken truth about success

10. 5 reasons we should “stop fighting” for a cause

11. “You are hiding something”: 4 reasons we find it difficult to trust those we love

12. “Pick your battles”: Fine, but how?

Education

1. The Yin and Yang of Ed-Tech: Will schools even survive the next 10 years?
2. Why we “grown-ups” are the biggest reason the education system must change urgently
3. “No chair for teacher”: Is it time we do away with this regressive and myopic policies