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Linear, easy growth. We all want it to work this way. A clean, predictable path from where we are to where we want to be, the straight line where progress stacks neatly, week after week, without interruption. Effort in, results out.
That version of growth is easy to believe in, but it rarely exists in the real world.
What most people actually experience looks very different. Two steps forward, one step back. Sometimes three. Sometimes a stall where it feels like nothing is moving at all. There are stretches where you feel like you are gaining momentum, followed by moments where you question whether any of it is working. Every once in a while, you find yourself dealing with the same challenge you thought you had already figured out.
That’s not failure. It’s the process.
The Overnight Success Lie
Part of the problem is where our expectations come from. We’re surrounded by stories of success that have been cleaned up and simplified. The “overnight success” narrative is everywhere, but it leaves out the years of quiet work that came before it. The missed attempts, the pivots, the doubt, and the times things did not go as planned.
What gets shared is the highlight reel. What gets hidden is everything that made the highlight possible. When you only see the outcome, it is easy to assume that progress is supposed to be smooth. Then, when your own experience gets messy including the setbacks and repeated challenges, it feels like something is off. It feels like you are behind. You’re not. You’re just seeing the full version of growth.
The “Enjoy The Journey” Nudge
There is a reason the idea of “enjoy the journey” keeps coming up. It’s not meant to sound nice or philosophical. It’s practical. If the path to where you want to go includes long stretches of effort, discomfort, and repetition, then your ability to stay engaged with that process matters more than almost anything else.
Think about something as straightforward as training for a marathon. No one runs 26.2 miles on day one. Endurance is built over time, step by step, across thousands of repetitions… somewhere in the range of 50,000 to 55,000 steps on race day alone. The training that leads up to it includes good days and bad days. Some runs feel strong and effortless, while others feel heavy from the start. Weather changes. Energy levels fluctuate. Life gets in the way.
If your expectation is that every run should feel like progress, you’ll get discouraged quickly. If your expectation is that some runs will feel great and others will feel like a grind, you stay in it. The same principle applies to business, leadership, health, relationships, and personal growth. The work is never linear. It moves in waves, with periods of acceleration and periods that feel slower. There are moments when things click, followed by moments when you have to rebuild momentum again.
Zoom Out
Instead of asking whether today felt like progress, ask a different question. Is the overall direction moving forward? Is the trendline, over time, pointing upward? Even with the setbacks, the loops, and the repeated challenges, are you building something?
Growth is never achieved in a single day, week, or even month. It’s defined by the accumulation of effort over time, and shaped by how you respond when things do not go as planned. It’s defined by the moments where you choose to keep going, even when the results are not immediate.
If you expect the path to be straight, every deviation feels like a problem. If you expect the path to be uneven, those same moments start to look like part of the design. Quit expecting linear progress and focus on direction. Stay in the work, and let the ups and downs do their job.
