What Progress Really Looks Like
Happy 2022, my friends!
I’m sure that many of you are busy setting goals, intentions, and resolutions for the upcoming year.
And I’m sure some of you are rebelliously NOT doing so because you know most people give up on their resolutions by February or so.
What causes people to give up on their hopes and dreams — the things that they themselves say they want most in the world?
Here’s one big cause we don’t talk about enough:
You have the wrong expectations about what progress will look like.
Most people think progress will be a neat, straight line.
You do a little bit every day. You get some benefits every day.
Effort → reward. Effort → reward. And a little upward step every time.
But as you may remember from when I made that scarf, progress is not linear. Progress is surprisingly exponential.
Which means when you’re working toward something:
At first, you make much LESS progress than you expect (and it feels really hard)
Then suddenly, you make way MORE progress than you expect — truly, beyond your wildest dreams (AND it feels effortless)
Our brains have such a poor grasp of exponential growth that this sounds like illogical magic-talk.
Like, What do you mean, if I just slog away, one day I’ll just have EVERYTHING I want and MORE? What are you, a scam artist?
But the key here is “compared to what you expect.”
There’s nothing magical or mysterious about the process. This is just what compound growth looks like.
At first, it’s slow and frustrating and seemingly a waste of time…
And then suddenly it’s speedy and effortless, and it rockets beyond your wildest expectations.
It’s not magic. It’s just the math of showing up.
And your brain won’t “get it” until you SHOW IT.
Let’s take my progress as a writer as an example.
For most of my life, my deepest, most desperate wish was to be someone who could produce writing regularly. That was all I ever wanted.
And here’s what my progress looked like:
10 years: 0 writing produced
Last year: Texted a few friends asking if I can send them my writing. (No writing actually done yet. Just sending these texts took 100% of my courage, effort, and emotional bandwidth.)
Start sending pieces sporadically. No schedule. Just whenever.
Start sending pieces two times a week.
Start sending pieces three times a week.
Start hitting send 5 times a DAY on Instagram (often more)
Today, I started a 60-day course where we’re supposed to spend the first 30 days posting 100 pieces of writing. I literally said, “Oh, that’s boring, I’m already doing that. Let me do that AND whatever we’re supposed to do in the second half all at the same time, so I actually have something to do.”
One year ago, all I wanted was to be the person who produces writing regularly.
Today, I said “Posting my writing 100 times in 30 days? Yawn. Too easy. What else?”
And guys, I am not special.
This process applies to everyone and everything.
Your job, your home life, your hobbies, your parenting, your relationships, and literally anything else you could possibly want to improve. Everything works this way.
When you start working toward a goal…
At first, the results seem like they’re not enough — not even close to enough
And then suddenly one day (if you keep showing up), you’ll find yourself saying “Holy shit, I didn’t even think that was possible.”
Your brain does not “get” compound growth.
You will have to explain it to yourself again and again.
But if you can correctly calibrate your expectations for what progress will look like…
Then you will finally become the version of you waiting on the other side of that exponential growth curve.
Good luck :)
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