Knight's Journey

"The greatest use of life is to spend it for something that will outlast it."  William James

Moving Forward

Any journey starts with a small movement forward. A journey often consists of stops and plateaus. However, forward motion is paramount to your success.  When you feel as if you are coasting, remember that you cannot coast on level surface.  To coast, you must be on a decline. This section is, in many ways, a continuation of the Maintaining Change page.  To maintain change we need diligence, endurance, and perseverance - the ability to make continuous progress.  One problem in maintaining change is that we do not have the knowledge of how this occurs. 

Be aware that learning can occur at any time or place. Consider expanding your learning and self-development opportunities. For example, in addition to reading and viewing educational programs, listen to informative tapes and compact discs. There is more interactive learning available on-line.  Invest in yourself. Devote time each week to learning and to being all that you can be. Learn the processes that will allow you to maintain change and to make continuous progress. 

Some individuals have asked why continuous progress is so important. For some, it isn’t. Some individuals seem to progress through life quite well without a great deal of effort. However, this doesn’t seem to be the case for most people. Most of us need some guidance and direction. Most importantly, after completing a personal inventory, we must decide that we have a desire to progress in our lives.  As you can see, continuous progress is a subset of maintaining change.

Where does one begin with making continuous progress.  Look at your areas of discomfort - a primary motivator for change.  Motivated by discomfort, people return to school, exit bad relationships, and change careers.  A plan to eliminate discomfort and to improve your future is an excellent place to begin. 

For those who do not have on-going areas of discomfort in their lives, perhaps selecting a path to improvement or to spiritual enlightenment may be desirable.  This is a laudable path that requires considerable effort, but offers great reward. 

One important area of clarification is necessary. Continuous progress is not synonymous with doing more. It is not necessarily working more or harder. Many goals have more to do with learning and/or "becoming" instead of producing. There are many components that make up the whole person. Once you decide on those components that you wish to improve upon, then seek to understand how to make continuous progress. Helping you to make continuous progress is one the goals of this site.

The Serenity Prayer

If you go to the posters.com link on the "Symbols and Change" page and do a search for "Serenity Prayer" you will see this famous payer.  Many people know this prayer quite well.  I have given this prayer a great deal of thought and say it everyday on at least one occasion.  My interpretation of this payer has evolved over the years as I have grown in my ability to make continuous progress in my life. 

The evolution of the meaning of this prayer has been in the area of accepting the things that I cannot change.  A politician, before being elected to office, cannot change as many things as he or she could prior to taking office.  An account executive within a company cannot facilitate organizational change as readily as when he or she become the CEO.  Thus, with continuous progress, people can grow in what they can change. 

I have discovered that I can change, or influence, more than I had ever imagined when I was first introduced to the prayer.  My years of working as a therapist taught me that I could help inspire and facilitate change in others and in myself to a degree that I had not believed possible.  My perceptions about people, places and things have changed.  I now see myself as an agent of change. 

With each day of being benevolent, intentional, and in doing the next right thing, we all have an increasing ability to change the world.  Thus the courage to change the things we can change increases with our realization that we can and do change for the best.   As we realize our increasing influence over our universe, we have more courage to contribute to the well-being of ourselves, our families, and to humankind.  When courage is reinforced, we therefore grow our capacity to contribute to society increases.

I believe that knowing the difference between what we can and cannot change is continually changing.  My goal is to make continuous progress in this area of my life.  You may consider making this a personal goal. 

Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI)

To offer a pictorial view of the CQI process, imagine a clear glass tubular circle.  The circumference of the tube is large enough to contain an average size black glass marble.  The tubular circle is 18” in diameter and contains one black marble.  The circle is turned perpendicular to the ground so that a person cannot see the circle but can only see the front 180 degrees of the circle – a vertical line.   This circle, on a horizontal plane, would appear as a horizontal line.  As the marble rolls around the circle, the observer only sees a black dot that moves up and down a vertical line or back-and-forth a horizontal line. This is the typical view of the world – that things are measured on a continuum.    The continuum, whether represented on a vertical or a horizontal line, represents comparisons that are analogous with such terms as good and bad or right and wrong.   Average is somewhere in the middle of the continuum. 

The CQI process, first of all, turns the circle at an angle so that the audience can see that it is a circle and not a line.  This process now turns the circle on its side, like a coin that falls on its side.  Next, the circle is cut, sealed at the end and one end is pulled upward forming an upward spiral that resembles a spiral staircase, however, this spiral goes to infinity.  This is the sort of pictorial vision that allows us to visualize the CQI process and to integrate it into our memory so that the clarity is never lost.   This is a vision of continuous progress that does not end with any particular milestone during one’s life. 

The process of CQI must have a common language, but it must also have an experiential essence that can be felt and understood on a basic level.  People should see the intrinsic value of this process that can be generalized to many aspects of life.  Personal continuous progress is a micro version of CQI.  When people understand this process on a personal level, it is much easier to convince members of a organization that his is a useful process. 

Clutter in Life                                                                                                                    

Organization is more important to some more than to others. Some people work in offices and cubes where even the floor is filled with clutter. However, some seem to be able to put their hands on whatever they need at a moment’s notice. Some people’s homes have walking paths through books, magazines, and clutter. Although I believe that personal organization is a choice, it is definitely a problem if the person with the clutter sees it as a problem.  Clutter can impede continuous progress. Clutter blocks the flow of chi (energy) within a space and within an individual. 

I recall working with a client during the mid-eighties. He came to a public mental health clinic for the treatment of anxiety and depression. I had worked with him for a few sessions prior to making a home visit. The home visit revealed a disorganized apartment that was filled with clutter. Although it was not particularly dirty, didn’t have a sink full of dirty dishes, or an insect problem, it did say "out of control".

We discussed his feelings of helplessness and hopelessness and how the disorganized living space fed his depression and anxiety.

We developed a contract for him to clean and organize his apartment prior to his re-entry into the work force. He worked diligently for slightly over a week, throwing out garbage bags full of clutter and organizing what remained. He then reported using much of the type of information that I have posted on the "Symbols" page of this site.

I believe that everyone should have one part of his or her life that is in order. The renowned therapist, Aaron Beck, spoke of the importance of feeling competent, in control, and of having some level of internal and/or external approval. His point was that it is difficult to feel anxious or depressed while simultaneously feeling competent, in control and having a sense of approval.

Getting rid of clutter and organizing one’s space is reinforcing. With this change, as with all changes, we can revert back to old behavioral patterns. Thus one cannot assume that, once a space has been organized and clutter has been removed, that the space will remain neat and tidy. Some people need to build in reinforces and reminders. For example, going to www.flylady.com may help. She will nag you into compliance if you require reminders. She will remind you of things that you didn’t know that you needed reminders for. For example, she will remind you that you need to get-up, get dressed, and be ready for life before you begin the day’s tasks.