In 2011, Teresa M. Amabile and Steven J. Kramer shared the results of an in-depth study in the Harvard Business Review entitled, “The Power of Small Wins.” They analyzed several thousand daily diary entries from 238 individuals to learn about their emotions, perceptions and motivations as they experienced each work day.
During their analysis, one observation stood out above all else: to motivate creative employees, help them step forward on a daily basis. In other words, their personal growth was connected to progress.
Identifying Progress of Personal Growth in Your Best and Worst Days
Not surprisingly, the “best days” of the participants in the study related it to progress of meaningful work, while the participant’s “worst days” involved setbacks.” Furthermore, they were most motivated and satisfied when there was forward momentum in meaningful work.
In addition, Amabile and Kramer parlayed their research and study into a book called The Progress Principle: Using Small Wins to Ignite Joy, Engagement, and Creativity at Work. In it, they note:
How are you tracking progress of your personal growth? Using concepts from the book “The Progress Principle” by Amabile and Kramer, here are some simple steps to impact that personal growth progress for better motivation, well-being and general life outlook.
A Tale of One Great Day and One Terrible Day
And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” – Genesis 1:28 (ESV)
What a wonderful blessing Adam and Eve must have experienced in those days! An absolute “best day” for sure. But that blessing disappeared following their disobedience to God, thus cursing the world and opening the door to many “worst days” for countless generations. Talk about seeing both progress and setbacks.
Ever since that fateful moment, we’ve been working toward making our way back with every small win.
However, it sometimes seems like, for every ten small wins, there’s an inevitable setback that’s capable of completely derailing our personal growth. That’s why it’s important to take a look at each of your days, just as Amabile and Kramer did with the participants of their study. Doing this helps you understand what contributed to progress and regress as well as your underlying happiness, effectiveness and well-being.
Resulting from their study and detailed in their book, the authors share four variables frequently at play in the working lives. They have very similar implications for us in our daily living when we’re pursuing a refining life, on purpose. Those variables are:
- Catalysts: Events that propel forward progress .
- Nourishers: Interpersonal interactions that lift moods.
- Inhibitors: Events that involve setbacks.
- Toxins: Interpersonal interactions that undermine moods.
Start A Personal Growth Progress Journal
A lot of people take up journaling for many reasons. Some do it for a way of release and some do it for tracking their health. Whatever the reason, getting it out provides a great opportunity for introspection and understanding.
Consider the observations of Amabile and Kramer. Knowing that good days are represented with progress and bad are marked with setbacks. Then, think also about the variables that contribute to each direction, and start a simple journal. But don’t worry, it doesn’t have to be long and in-depth. Spelling and grammar is inconsequential.
The key is in answering a couple of simple questions for identifying what contributes to your good and bad days. As you get started, pray over each day and consider the following as you reflect upon each day:
- Which event stands out for the day and how did it affect your inner being?
- What Nourishers and Catalysts were present in my day to support my progress of personal growth?
- What Inhibitors (setbacks) and Toxins did I experience and what did I learn from them?
- Did I affect the experiences of others in my life today? In what ways was I a Catalyst, Nourisher, Inhibitor and/or Toxin to them?
Of course, I’m offering these as suggestions for helping you get started. Everyone’s personal growth takes a different path, though there are many commonalities. If you develop some questions of your own and/or some key observations stand out to you, I’d love to hear about it here.
Post it here so it can be shared with the rest of the swarm.