Progress Looks Like Spring in Virginia

Spring arrives a bit chaotically here in Virginia. Those first few days of warm weather have us romanced into the beauty of it. We are outside again after the cold kept us captive. We take long walks, we start planting flowers and cleaning out the winter debris, we frolic! our noses and shoulders get the first sunburn of the season.

It feels like we’ve made it.

Like the growing season has officially begun.

Then bam!

A cold front blows in and takes us by surprise. We are all of a sudden stuck back inside in our sweats. We were so ready for the growing season. So ready for the blooming. (We really should know better by now!)

It's kind of like when we are working on our goals, right?

We’ve been sold this idea that growth should be simultaneous.

That we should be able to:

• Build the habit

• Heal the mindset

• Hit the goal

• Fix the routine

• Clarify the vision

• Show up consistently

. . . all at the same time. But that’s not how humans work. And it’s not how growth works.

Growth looks a lot more like spring in Virginia.

A warm, hopeful stretch where everything feels possible . . . followed by a dip that makes you question all of it. A few days of momentum . . . followed by a few days that feel like stagnation.

And it’s easy, in those colder stretches, to assume something has gone wrong.

That you’ve lost progress.

That you’re falling behind.

That you should be further along by now.

We cannot be planting, growing, pruning, and harvesting all at the same time.

Some parts of your life are ready for action. Some are still taking root. Some need to be cut back before they can grow again. And some simply need time.

That’s not failure.

So on a “warm” day, that might look like:

• Taking action

• Building momentum

• Moving something forward

On a “cold” day, that might look like:

• Resting

• Simplifying

• Choosing not to quit

Both are progress.

Journal Prompts:

• What area feels slow, stuck, or not ready—and what if that’s okay?

• Where am I trying to force progress instead of allowing timing?

• What am I putting pressure on that might simply need more time?

• If I had to choose one focus for this season, what would it be?

• What am I willing to not focus on right now?

• Where in my life am I in a “planting” season? What would small, consistent effort look like there?

• Where might I be in a “pruning” season—what needs to be released, edited, or let go?

Affirmations:

• I don’t need everything to bloom at once.

• I trust the timing of my growth.

• Progress is still happening, even when I can’t see it.

• I release the pressure to do everything at the same time.

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Office Hours:  This month Office Hours are on Wednesday, April 22. This is for Editor's Circle Coaching Members as well as any Guided Revision Coaching Members who would like to touch base between scheduled coaching appointments. HERE is the link to schedule a 30-minute slot

The Weekly Draft: happens every Sunday evening at 7pm at this link. Come prepared to reflect on the past week and draft the upcoming week. It is meant to be a heads down, co-planning time, with me being available to share strategies and/or answer questions. Join me HERE