#6 ON PROGRESS

How To Re-define Personal Growth

Hey good human, 

This week, there’s no interview. The last conversation I recorded hit me hard. It stirred something so deeply personal that it left me in a sea of tears—during the recording, but even more so during the editing. I need time to sit with it. I promise, more on that soon. 

It got me thinking about progress—about how I measure my life, my self-imposed deadlines, and my endless performance metrics as an imperfect human trying to navigate this whole adulting thing. How do you measure your life progress?

If you’re anything like me, you’ve probably been taught to measure progress in a straight line. We cross goals off, deliver projects and continue to strive on.

The late Carl Rogers, a giant in humanistic psychology, believed in the concept of “becoming,” not arriving. This is my re-reminder this week.

Progress isn’t a destination, but a lifelong process of growth. 

And then there’s Viktor Frankl, who famously taught us that meaning doesn’t come from success or achievement, but from how we respond to life's inevitable suffering.

The hard times, the heartache, the failures—these moments shape us. And likely, the entire thesis of the yet-to-be-published episode I am currently sitting with. 

Mentor Chip Conley wrote a post this week that I had to screenshot:

‘Our painful life lessons are the raw material for our future wisdom so one way to determine your wisdom fingerprints is to consider some life experiences that you’ve metabolised into wisdom’

That’s where true progress lives. The wisdom gained. From your lived experience. The entire thesis for RE-TURN ON WISDOM. 

So, what are your current life metrics for personal growth?

Now, I admit, I write this to you as a re-reminder to myself. What if we didn’t measure our lives by the number of things we accomplished, the boxes ticked, the societal checklist being met? What if our progress was determined by: 

• How much we loved, how kind we are, how willing we are to grow and change. 

• How regulated our nervous systems feel. 

• How in alignment we are with our current reality, whether it be the people around us, the environment, or our ability to be of service. 

• How present we are in conversations. 

There is no roadmap for this thing called life. No one-size-fits-all measure of progress. Some days showing up is enough. On other days, falling apart is the best thing, putting back the pieces of our unique human selves is the real progress. For me personally, this year I have felt like a puzzle, slowly building a new picture. 

So I’m declaring here (honestly, primarily for accountability)

I’m measuring life by how I am growing through my lived life experiences. 

And here, in this little humanity cocoon on the internet, I am definitely being propelled through the school of growth. 

So here’s to measuring our lives by how much we’ve grown, how much we learned to love ourselves, and each other, how much we’ve shown up in our most authentic, vulnerable, full human bloom selves, AND how far we’ve come. Because we have come a long way already, together.

Take care and take risk,

Love Nim 

PS. Catch up on all the wisdom you have missed:  #1 On Identity and Self Discovery - 10min | #2 On grief and caring - 9min | #3 On shame and addiction - 10min | #4 On love - 10min | #5 On Connection - 9min

+ Get involved in all the exciting things: Deeper, more meaningful conversations, or reconnecting to Country. 

Thank you for being part of this community that listens, learns, and values lived experience wisdom. 

Every action you take today helps me keep these important conversations going. 

We have 14 paid subscribers now for this little storytelling project. The pioneers! The First Believers! 14 humans are keeping the recordings and writing going. Your support is fuel on the fire. Thank you

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