I think most people will agree that progress is a good thing. Something to strive for. But lately I’ve noticed my attachment to this thing called progress.
Sometimes, a lack of progress—whether that’s perceived or real—can make me feel a sense of despair. The frustrating thing, of course, is that most things do not follow a linear path at all. A creative journey, for example, feels like some sort of irregular sine wave—some days go well, some days are painful. Another example is my meditation practice. I’ve repeatedly noticed that my sense of presence fluctuates quite severely throughout the week. There will always be a few days a week where I have to restart a guided meditation a couple of times before I’m even marginally present.
Another frustrating thing about progress is that some things might just actually take a really long time. Some things take forever to show any significant progress. Difficult things like, learning an instrument, or a new skill, for example. With some things, like difficult internal work, there is no telling exactly how long the journey might be. So, preoccupation with time and progress can only take you away from the present moment.
Sometimes when I get too obsessed with progress, I tell myself: Give it a year. Work on this for a year, and see what happens. Firstly, it’s rare that you will work on something for a year and not at least see some progress. Secondly, this trick kind of overrides your preoccupation on immediate results so that you can focus on process instead.