What's Determining Your Growth Rate?

The speedometer on one of my vehicles stopped working recently. With a hectic work schedule, I chose not to get it repaired until I had more room in my schedule.

What I found interesting in the interim period was how much I relied on the speed of others to determine my own rate of movement. If no one was in close proximity to me, I had very little way to gauge my speed... and I was forced to err on the side of going too slow because a speeding ticket was not in my plans.

Too many people "gauge" their own success by the achievements of those around them. They feel inferior if they aren't achieving the results in their life as quickly as someone else. Even worse, they don't have a clear set of goals to give them the motivation to get moving toward any direction. Conversely, a sense of arrogance can sometimes be seen if we are accomplishing our goals faster than the people around us. Moving too quickly is often a risk that can come with lots of "tickets" (i.e. unhealthy stress, strained relationships and failure to get things done well).

We each need our own internal "speedometer" to determine if we are on pace to reach our chosen destinations (goals) in a timely manner. I'm not sure, but I don't think the police officer would have let me off with the excuse of "But officer, they were driving at that speed and I was just following them!"