(Part One of Three)
Insight from The Progress Challenge: Working and Winning in a World of Change by Dean Lindsay, the Find Progress in Change Speaker
Dean’s Progress Challenge is being Published 2/4/10 – Advanced Copies available here.
“It is not strange … to mistake change for progress.”
— Millard Fillmore (13th U.S. President)
( Click here for Part Two.)
Change happens. We can’t avoid change.
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New technologies are created.
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Markets bear and bull.
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Companies merge.
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Organizations come together.
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Children are born.
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Rain falls. Tides turn. Lives evolve.
We are always in some form of transition, always arriving at some new place and dealing with new rollouts, new ideas, new everything. The very molecules inside the cells of our bodies are in constant flux. Our world and our lives are always changing, but they are not always progressing. It is natural to resist what we view as change. However, we embrace what we view as progress.
Progress means: forward movement, advance, gradual betterment. It takes awareness, character, discipline, and effort to progress.
Change is inevitable, Progress is a choice.
The word progress carries a forward thrust and focus, a vibrant and transcendent quality that the words change and even success don’t deliver. With every success comes the desire for more success.
When we reach a goal, our natural ambitiousness tells us that the goal is also the stepping stone to the next, possibly more rewarding and worthwhile, goal. 
Therefore, every success establishes a new norm, and brings with it the question: What next?
The road to success is always under construction. We are always striving for something. (I will share that the something I am referring to is not a person, place, or thing, but rather a feeling. A mixture of six feelings, to be exact, but we will deal with that soon enough.) Continual striving can become quite unpleasant and unhealthy if we do not take time to soak in the positive buzz – feelings – from our forward momentum.
When we focus on daily progress, we are able to feel daily satisfaction. With every forward step, we see more clearly, our confidence grows, our position improves, and our options multiply. We progress toward today’s goal on the strength of our past progress. Once achieved, today’s goal becomes tomorrow’s launching pad.
“Out of every fruition of success, no matter what, comes forth something to make a new effort necessary.”
— Walt Whitman
Click here for Part Two.
Be Progress.
Quick shout out to Alex Pope
If he were among us today, eighteenth-century English poet Alexander Pope would likely be one popular guy on Facebook. It was he who wrote the lofty words, “To err is human; to forgive, divine.” Pope is said to be the third most frequently quoted writer in the English language, after Shakespeare and Tennyson.
Alexander may not be on Facebook, but I am, and would be happy to add you as a friend.
Friend me at: www.facebook.com/DeanLindsay2468
I am on Twitter too: www.Twitter.com/DeanLindsay
Three endorsements for Dean Lindsay’s The Progress Challenge: Working and Winning in a World of Change
“Finally a meaningful book with a workable process for progress.”
— Gerhard Gschwandtner
Founder and Publisher
Selling Power Magazine
“Stop the management fads and the ‘program of the month.’ In The Progress Challenge, Dean Lindsay captures the issues and presents real, relevant, actionable solutions to the challenge of driving continual progress in business and life.”
— Tim McRay
Leadership and Diversity
Mercedes-Benz Financial
“The Progress Challenge should be mandatory reading. In a time of economic slowdown, innovation and new approaches become even more important. Dean Lindsay gets it absolutely right and if we could all follow his advice the global business world would be a better place. Dean is an inspiration for any business leader whether in the USA or in Europe – a true Progress Agent.”
— Birger Husted (Prague, Czech Republic)
Partner, UniqueConsult
Copies of The Progress Challenge available here.
For Bulk purchase discounts call: 214-457-5656
Contact Dean Lindsay about your next event.