A young woman stepped up to the microphone stand and asked,
“What do you feel is the biggest obstacle to someone enjoying their life today?”
Everyone sitting on stage looked at each other as if nobody wanted to be the first to comment. So I jumped in and said,
“Our addiction to drive-thru dopamine hits.” I continued, “Our world has been constructed to feed the immediate reward center in the brain, and when we don’t get that burst of dopamine, we feel like our world is…well…blah.”
[To give you some context, this was at a leadership conference. I’m sure if the same question were asked at a civics, financial, or tech conference, there would be a different response.]
Dopamine is the ‘feel good’ chemical in our brain. It’s the pleasure release valve. Except, it’s getting in the way of a 4th principle I want to share with you today:
Progression.
I know. I know. To most people, ‘Progression’ sounds a bit boring. But before you swipe this email closed and move to your next dopamine hit of:
- A new subject line,
- A new notification, or
- A new discovery.
Let’s dig into it a little because it may just help you master the chemicals in your brain.
So, today I’m going to share:
- What is Progression,
- Why it’s essential, and
- How to start applying it.
“Alright, Mr Herman, what is this Progression Principle?”
Ooooo, so formal of you.
Well, think of it this way:
The roof of your abilities can’t be found without consistent action.
It would be super easy to confuse Progression with Overload; however, they’re not the same thing.
Overload is short-term. Progression is longer term. It takes patience and it can get boring.
Let’s head back to the example of growing your bicep:
You began the entire ‘bicep-growing’ process by grabbing a challenging but not overwhelming weight to begin lifting.
After consistently showing up, your muscles adapted to the weight, and the initial challenge became easy. You may even plateau for a while without making any gains. Some people might quit at this point.
But with the Progression principle, you move on to another weight or exercise to continue your growth.
Annnnnnd…here’s where you didn’t get that big dopamine hit I mentioned earlier.
Why?
Because humans are terrible at looking at their progress over a longer period of time. [Listen to this excerpt from an interview where I discuss a concept you’ll like.]
So, Progression is not only understanding you’ll need to adapt. It’s patiently and calmly sitting in the realization that transformation WILL happen. Even when you can’t necessarily see it.
The Benefits of Progression
When Progression is used correctly in any area of your life:
- It delivers calm confidence,
- It helps you develop routines with conviction,
- It creates a compounding effect on areas you never expected.
How to Start Applying Progression in Your Life
When you’re applying this principle to any area of life, ask yourself these questions:
- Have I been taking consistent action?
- Have I hit a plateau and need to find a new or different way to stimulate growth?
- Have I resisted starting something because I’m trying to conquer the mountain in one step? (Small and consistent action has conquered everything.)
A Final Thought
The mistake people make is thinking that Progression is always about more.
Not so my friend. Peak performance is often about less.
Think about it this way…
Anytime you’re making progress towards something (learning something new, building a skill, developing more experience) you’ll pick up things along your journey that don’t suit you.
Maybe you saw someone else doing something a certain way and thought you should do it, too.
Not because you were purposely mimicking them but because you didn’t know any better.
In the process of learning or developing anything, we all try a lot of things to figure out what works. However, we’re not very good at deliberately editing later.
So, I’d encourage you to take a look over your shoulder to see if you can clip a few strings that may be holding you back.
When you do this: Your wisdom grows. Your intuition grows. And ultimately, the thing I care most that you and all my clients and customers develop, is your trust.
Not just any type of trust, but the trust you have in your capacity to make things happen.
And that’s a powerful place to operate from.
Stay tuned next week when I’ll share the 5th Sports Performance Principle that goes hand in hand with Progression.
I’m also going to share a video my wife has been bugging me to share in this newsletter for a while, but I was saving it for next week’s email.
Be Bold. Take Action. Leave a Mark.
Todd Herman
P.S. If someone forwarded you this article, you can subscribe to my weekly ‘A Peak Life’ newsletter below. Every week I’ll share one idea, framework, or perspective that will help you lead a life you’re excited for.