Progression

 Progression = The process of developing or moving gradually towards a move advanced state.

 The fourth and final sub-pillar within the Peak Pathway 3 Pillar High-Performance Method is progression. The need to constantly be moving forward and always striving to be better. That is what this one is all about. It's in there, as I've shared with you throughout this. One of my highest personal values, personally, professionally, etc., is progression, always moving forward.

I'm obsessed with getting better, and that's a really big thing for me. And as I've learned a lot, even if you're just moving forward a teeny tiny little bit, it's better than going backward. But we do know as we go through this course if you have to go backward, it's only to take bigger leaps forward. Progression comes through the development of previous skills, developing your mental toughness, having something to pursue, understanding what your skillset needs to be, acquiring your skills, and that comes again from that overarching GPS, that umbrella of purpose, which gives you natural accountabilities.

And now we start to build in balance. We start getting a return on investment through the energies that you're putting in with people or tasks or different projects you're involved in. This is where you're starting to progress, and progression is momentum, and it just starts getting faster and faster. I am progressing by choice, not by chance. I'm doing the things I want to be doing to get better. I'm achieving. I'm getting little wins every day. It is hugely empowering, hugely empowering, and the fact that we're delivering that ultimate preparedness through that empowerment progression is a key part of that.

As an acquirable set of skills, progression is broken down into the elements of 

1. Change Management
2. Lessons
3. Skill Acquisitions 

Change Management

Change Management is when you begin to established controllable elements with your progression toward your purpose and goal acquisitions including:

1. Expectations of Yourself
2. Expectations of Others
3. Boundaries that serve your purpose and goal acquisitions
4. Fear Management  

When you begin to change yourself, you're changing your attitude. You are changing and creating different expectations of yourself and then others of you and you of others. It creates this beautiful ripple effect. It starts to be very positive. It's hugely optimistic. It ripples through all areas of your life.

However, change is a scary beast. And for you who is now confident enough and courageous enough and now resilient enough to grab that beast by the horns and wrestle it to the ground and smack it on the ass and make it your own is an amazing thing. But not everyone is down for that.

And this is where as you start to progress and you're getting better and better and better, it's really important to make sure that you are managing the changes for yourself, that work for you in line with your purpose and you moving forward for you. It's also equally critical that your expectations of others remain in line with their ability and with what's reasonable.

Within my coaching, you see people getting better and they just expect everyone else to come with them. And a lot of people can't. A lot of people don't. Everyone can, but a lot of people can't see how, and sometimes it takes disruption for them to understand that they need to change or it takes some losses for them to want to change.

You are ahead of that curve. You've been there, you've gone through that change and contemplation, and you're now engaging in change, engaging in the discomfort of it with a lot less fear than before. So you must manage those changes, that as your attitudes are adapting and getting better, you're going to hear the compliments firstly, but then you're going to have some detraction from that because some of the relationships that we have that we engaged in at a time where we weren't this emerging giant will naturally change.

A Key element of change management is being a change agent, and you're becoming your agent of change, and that's cool. And when you buy into that and it's working for you, it becomes a little addictive in a positive way. But by the same token, it would be remiss of me as a coach to not outline that it does have a ricochet effect for those who are not engaging in it the same way that you are.

It's always about managing your expectations internally and externally to make sure that you are not creating undue stress and adding things to the backpack of problems that you're starting with as you're starting to remove them break them down and crush them into dust. You don't need to be added. That's not the point. The point is life will naturally give us challenges, but we're starting to engage in challenges we feel are in line with our purpose. A key element of progression is managing that change and keeping everything in line and balanced for what it needs to be at that time for the people in your circle and your environment.

Lessons

Lessons in reference to very simply acknowledging and adapting to and respecting the different lessons that you are being given during this change process. A big part of change management is identifying the lessons that you're being taught, and understanding that in many ways, sometimes they're very specific and very individual to you, but there's also learning about these. It's important.

When talking about having different lessons, different life lessons,  I always say to my coaching clients, to my family, and especially to myself - let's have a different conversation. So just again, having a different conversation, learning from the lessons. If you keep landing on the same square, it means something's a little out, and it's okay to land on the square because sometimes you need that to go, I haven't quite locked in that skill, or I haven't quite locked in that mindset or that attitude. It allows you to understand things from the past and how they're affecting you today and what you don't want to drag with you into your future.

Skill Acquisitions

The final action pillar within our progression sub-pillar is skill acquisition. I don't know anybody who isn't excited, empowered, confident, assured, increased levels of self-esteem when they're learning new skills and acquiring new skills. It's a wonderful thing. Acquiring new skills. There is the application of those skills that's where the rubber meets the road. But acquiring and getting into that and looking at where there's a deficiency and actively working towards the removal of that deficiency, it's hugely positive, it's massively empowering, and it's beyond purposeful. So in terms of these types of skill acquisitions come to form what is a big part of the seven-day delivery of our system. So you are looking at this as a daily thing and a daily progression, and as you're acquiring these skills, it does deliver those incredible pillars of positivity, empowerment, and purposefulness."

 Peak Pathway engages the Challenge vs. Support Matrix as balanced means of supporting it's clients through periods of change. The goal is Max Development where we encourage the highest of challenge to be undertaken, but also balance this with highest level of support. 

Progression needs a great deal of support. The fact that definitively you are moving toward a place of advancement means the level of expectation will increase. Competition, selection and success will incur low performing attitudes and behavior's of those not successful in acquiring the same goal you have. 

That's why it's imperative to have a strong support base in place, and remember.....you will also progress past the ripple effects of the these low performing behavior's of others. Because you will adapt to these and will have experience in dealing with this as you continue to progress toward your next goal. 

Support includes:

• Creating your own High-Performance Ecosystem
• Keeping only the most aligned company to your values 
• A Coach or a Mentor to help navigate your progression with you
• Never taking other peoples negativity, spitefulness, jealousy and low performing behavior's to heart!

Remember, it takes courage to take on the challenge of actualizing your potential. Not everyone is you for the challenge, or understand what it is you're undertaking. Stay positive, remain focused on your Purpose, and relay on the self-assuredness that comes with progression toward this actualization of your highest potential.

Yours in Performance

Rich Daly