May 21, 2025
Why Your Progress Feels Like a Mess — And Why That’s Totally Normal
We, as humans, tend to be competitive in some ways. We look at other people, at how they are moving forward in their lives, and we compare ourselves to them. We have a sense of urgency, we feel a constant need to make progress, and we get frustrated when we don’t think that progress is enough.
I’m not saying that our desire for progress is something bad, in fact, it can be a great thing. Our desire for progress is what propels us forward when life gets tough, it’s the desire that allows us to create great things, things greater than ourselves.
How can we strive for progress, without hurting ourselves in the process?
We must understand that progress is not linear!
Let me give you a specific example. If you want to make progress at the gym, don't expect to be able to increase the weight you can lift in every single training session. There will be days where you didn't sleep so well, didn't eat enough, or simply conducted your workout differently, and that will affect your performance. You might be able to lift less weight than in the previous session, and here's the thing: that doesn't mean you're not making progress.
That same logic applies to many different areas of your life. You have to be able to think long-term. Yes, you might not have made any visible progress in the current week, but that doesn't matter, if you look at your trajectory from a distance, you'll see if you made progress or not. Progress takes time.
Besides that, there will probably be setbacks along the way. There will be moments where you'll plateau, or where you'll even decrease your performance. But if you keep making the effort, you will surely get over those obstacles.
Think of your development as a line in a graph
A straight line pointing up means progress.
A line that alternates between going up and plateauing also means progress.
And a line that alternates between going up and down, but ultimately is moving up in the long run also means progress.
Here are tips for you to change your perspective on progress
1. Stop comparing yourself to other people
Everyone is on their own journey, something that seems easy to one person might not be so easy to you, and vice-versa.
2. Give yourself credit for the small improvements
You can even keep a list of your successful steps. The point is to recognize your progress and reward yourself for it.
3.Find ways of measuring your progress
Yes, you shouldn't obsess about it, but it might be a good idea to have objective evidence of your progress, especially when you're feeling like you're not moving forward.
You can think about the progress graph and use these tips to change your perspective on what progress is all about. I hope this helps you! Let's start a progress journey together, give us a call!
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