Ever notice when you set out to make a significant change in your life, that life itself seems to get crazy? It's like life knows when you're trying to be more intentional and does everything in its power to stop you. That's the whirlwind.

The whirlwind is made of the stuff of life:

• the car breaks down
• there are bills to pay
• the lawn needs cut
• groceries need to be ordered
• there's that zoom session at 1pm today
• and why did you agree to lead a men's prayer breakfast online?

Sometimes the whirlwind is made of seasons:

• you are writing a book
• your mother passed away
• the neighbor down the road just had a housefire
• you are starting a new business

Sometimes the whirlwind catches you off guard. Sometimes it's just the humdrum parts of living life in a fallen world. Nothing good or bad about it, it's just stuff. It is unpredictable, sometimes frenzied, potentially distracting.

Now contrast that to your journey of excellence.

This journey, like any significant endeavor, comes down to the walk. You are doing a few specific tasks on a regular basis that will lead to the outcome you desire. If you aren't aware of it by now, leading a life of excellence where you are becoming the fullest expression of your unique, God-given design does not come easy. But you can make it a lot simpler with this visual:

Imagine this walk like pulling yourself along a cable. Hand over hand, you are getting closer and closer, week by week, action by action. Now, add the whirlwind. As you are pulling yourself along the cable, the wind is whipping you around.

Your journey of excellence is the most significant work you will do in your lifetime. It impacts your impact. It is possible to become so distracted by the whirlwind that you reach a certain age, look back, and wonder how you could have wasted so much time. But it is also quite possible to maintain progress in the midst of the whirlwind. There may be times when the progress slows to a crawl (like if you lose a loved one), but you can still keep moving.

I heard a phrase among the running community when I was training for a marathon once:

If you can't sprint, jog.

If you can't jog, walk.

If you can't walk, crawl

 - relentless forward motion.

Even in the midst of your whirlwind, however intense it may be, you can still make progress on your desired outcome. And over time, you will be becoming the fullest expression of your unique design - that's the journey of excellence. Check out the tips I've added to the Action Step section.

ACTION STEP

• Keep your actions simple. Don't make the granular part of your journey so complicated that you have to think long and hard before acting.
• Reflect more. Perhaps you've heard me say this before, but I cannot overemphasize the importance of reflection time. Ideally first thing in the morning and last thing at night. This gives you unpressured time to look over the landscape of your journey.
• Build in margin time. Carve out specific time to perform the actions you set out to accomplish. Make them appointments on your calendar, not items on your to do list.

photo cred