Hey there, welcome to season 2 of Discovering Breadcrumbs. This is a part of the Cultivate Project, a once a month project where I explore practices and mindsets we can cultivate for growth. I started this as an exploration of lettering art and illustration. As I created the art, I discovered words that flowed out with the art. This podcast is the place where I share those words. You can see the art in the link below. And I’d love it if you followed along in my journey by signing up for my weekly emails.

Those emails are kind of like a road trip . . . they include adventure, good music, some wrong turns, a couple of right ones, and maybe a snack. For real though, it is a journey, this artist thing and I share what I learn, the potholes I encounter, and the processes and paths I take. I’d love to have you here with me.

It’s where you’ll see behind the scenes of the art process, you’ll receive opportunities to purchase new work available only to my subscribed collectors, you’ll get special sneak peeks and for each collection release, we celebrate with free shipping for you. Oh, and you have access to a library of free downloads that include bookmarks, digital background wallpapers (there are more than 15 to choose from right now), and monthly calendars (you can get this art as a calendar right now) and I added a 2023 planner. You will love it, I promise.

Finally, I’ve decided to keep this podcast ad-free for right now. But if you’d like to support the art and words here and help me keep it this way, consider a listener-supported donation. That link is in the notes too.

Now, lets talk about Progress . . .

Progress not perfection. How much do we hear this phrase today? Maybe it’s just me that sees it all over. And it’s true and viable and aren’t we all just a work in progress anyway. It’s good to remember this and give each other and ourselves some grace. We aren’t perfect, and we shouldn’t expect to be, or expect others to be. But I do think this phrase might be overused and because of that can become an excuse. An excuse not to push to be better. At times do you find yourself not progressing, and the response is it’s ok, you’re a work in progress. Just promise me, you won’t get stuck there. You can be better, you can elevate your work and yourself. I try to remind myself of this daily by getting showered and dressed into something other than my leggings, t-shirt, and a messy bun. Last month I talked all about this idea of elevating so I’m not going to rehash it here but it’s worth the mention.

I also said last episode that elevating is a process, not an end goal and that’s important. Elevating is paired well with progress and not perfection. It’s difficult to elevate because it takes us out of our comfort zones and asks us to extend. But when we do elevate, we always see progress.

Progress can be a cure. Often when I become frustrated with my work or something isn’t turning out the way I want, I’ll step back and ask how I can make it better. I take a beat and ask questions of the work. It’s difficult but always there’s an answer. Sometimes not right away but the answer comes. Then there is progress and it feels like an accomplishment, making me happier because I overcame an obstacle. Think about the times you’ve taken a step back when things aren’t working. It could be a problem you were trying to solve, a point in your spiritual life, personal life, or even mindset. What were you able to change and things progressed? What feeling did this leave you with?

Let’s talk imposter syndrome. One I often feel creeping in, thinking I’ll never be good enough. This is a fixed mindset stuck in perfection. The elixir for this – progress. I take a step back and actually look at how a piece is progressing and appreciate how I’ve developed it, knowing that if I’ve come this far, I can keep going and taking it further. If I take a trip back to my work even just a year ago, I can see progress in my work and it gives me the confidence to keep moving forward. Even better is when someone comments on the progress I’ve made – this is a beautiful bottle of encouragement that gives me hope and resiliency to keep going. I saw an Instagram post the other day that sums all this up beautifully – She’s not where she wants to be, but she thanks God she’s not where she used to be. Do you ever look back and say the same?

Focusing on progress instead of on perfection actually creates a shift in your mindset that allows you to focus on the process and not the goal. To focus on how you are growing rather than perfection. A focus on how to make your work or yourself better rather than having a required outcome. And progress and growth is what we should be reaching for. We can’t grow without focusing on the process and actually enjoying it.

James Victore says in his book, Feck Perfuction, that “if you focus on the reward, you’ll never be happy. . . Focusing on the reward means not focusing on the work. The process of growing, learning, and all intermittent victories and defeats are the reward.”

It is the progress we make that is the reward. Why do you think often it is never enough to receive the reward? If the reward is in the process and progression we make then the fruit of that is the extra icing on top making it all much sweeter.

If you’ve been listening to most of my episodes here at Discovering Breadcrumbs, then you’ll notice each one is a part of the Cultivate Project where we are working on growing. Working on progress, not perfection.