In three days, I will be approximately 93% through my Life Coach studies with the Health Coach Institute. I started the program in October 2019 and have stayed on track with the curriculum that includes on-line instruction, tests, coaching calls, skills sessions, and practice client role-playing. The Health Coach Institute makes it easy to monitor advancement with an on-line dashboard and a percent completion graph. The closer I am to finishing, the more obsessed I am with moving the needle.
Technology allows us to track health and fitness parameters as well as financial, project management, business development, and educational headway. Progress chains on bank websites track loan applications, health portals provide medical checklists, and on-line bill payment systems deliver instant gratification that invoices are scheduled. College tuition savings and retirement planning software projects asset accumulation. Businesses utilize tools for forecasting sales, refining budgets, and researching markets. Exercise technology displays daily steps, minutes per mile, calories expended, heart rate, sleep quality, and calorie consumption.
I do not need technology to keep me moving forward while running. Decades of running have honed my internal clock so that I know, often within two or three minutes, how long I have been out. Or maybe it is just that my middle-aged legs and lungs perceive an effort level that coincides with time and distance. Who knows? I view signposts along the way: a flowering bush, a change in the pavement texture, a street sign, or a curve in the road, all of which provide feedback about the distance to the finish.
Research shows that tracking progress is the easiest way to realize objectives. Unfortunately, complex goals, such as finding and creating a fulfilling career, improving personal relationships, or deciding where and what retirement should look like are complicated and interwoven with subjective and qualitative considerations. Uncertainty stymies goal accomplishment. Professional mentors advise breaking convoluted aspirations into smaller, more manageable short-term tasks.
I wish I had a completion graphic for COVID-19. “Flattening the curve” charts are too elusive and unreliable. I want to know that there is a point in time when I can hug my children, dine with friends, grocery shop with safety, and enjoy warm, in-person camaraderie with my co-workers. I need to perceive that our collective society is experiencing continuous forward movement. If accurate and depictive charts were available, I would not complain even if they showed the most minimal progress. One small step closer is a huge and comforting motivator to stay the course.
I understand that we will not get definitive predictive evidence of when the virus will be vanquished. Instead, I will heed the advice of motivational experts and break down uncertainty into manageable, daily steps. Today, I will wake up after a good night’s sleep, and I will exercise. I will devote my day to completing concrete tasks. I will remind my family how much I love them. And I will surrender myself to the unknowable but take comfort in the conviction that this pestilent journey will end.