Making progress toward our goals is one of the most motivating experiences of all. Even just the smallest perception of progress can keep us going when we’ve been struggling.

So what about those times when you notice you’re stuck? You might think to yourself, “I’ve been working on myself and my goals for a year and a half, but I haven’t gotten anywhere.”

This was the scenario for a young man in an online group in which I was also a member. He wrote it just like that. Honest. Vulnerable. I think this is more common than most of us want to admit.

But here’s the thing: he had made progress. He just didn’t recognize it for what it was.

Hey there. It’s me, Kore. And you’re listening to Exercising Self-Control: From Fitness To Flourishing.

Here’s the story. A newer member of the group had decided to share his frustration. Despite consistent effort, he felt completely stuck. The group rallied with advice. Several supportive members jumping in with encouragement and helpful suggestions. And I found myself wanting to offer something different. A perspective I thought he really needed to hear.

The Expanding Problem

Because here’s what struck me most. It wasn’t how he articulated his struggle. It was his clarity about why he was struggling.

He’d consumed everything. Free courses. YouTube videos. Articles. Podcasts. Endless resources. Yet all that input had gotten him nowhere. He was drowning in possibility. Unable to chart a course through the noise.

This is the expanding problem of our times, isn’t it?

Photo by ün LIU on Unsplash

We have an overwhelming access to information. It’s like a siren song: “Just learn a little more and you’ll have all you need to succeed with your goals.”

But the more time we spend learning, the less time we spend doing. We mistake consumption for progress. We mistake scrolling for growth. We stay busy without actually moving anywhere.

How many of us have been there? I know I have. I’m a minimalist when it comes to physical belongings. But when it comes to information I lean more toward being a maximalist, if that’s a thing. I’ve gotten better but it’s something I still deal with if I slack in my discipline. Perpetual curiosity doesn’t help. Anyway, back to the story.

The Breakthrough

Here’s what I told him. And I’m speaking to all of us here: Recognizing you’re stuck is the breakthrough.

That’s progress in itself.

Most people never reach this point. They wander for years. Distracted by the next shiny course, the trending methodology, the latest promise of quick advancement. They never pause to ask if any of it’s actually working. They confuse motion with forward movement.

But this guy? He’d achieved something valuable: clarity.

Sure, it took him eighteen months. That seems like a long time but some people never make that realization. He’d identified the exact problem: a perpetual search but never deciding he had found something.

That’s no small achievement. That’s a major pivot point.

Where Real Change Begins

Awareness is where real change begins. It’s the first honest step. The one that separates people who drift from people who actually build something.

I encouraged him to see this recognition not as a setback but as earned wisdom.

The strides he’d made weren’t visible in external results yet. They were internal. He’d learned what doesn’t work. He’d discovered his own patterns. That’s tangible growth, even if it doesn’t feel like it in the moment.

With this new understanding he could move forward differently. With intention. With fewer distractions. With a foundation that actually holds.

The Mirror

This exchange was a mirror for me, too. And maybe you can relate.

How often do we rush past our own moments of clarity? Eager to find the next solution instead of honouring the insight we’ve just gained.

The real progress isn’t always visible. Sometimes it’s quiet. Sometimes it’s just the recognition that what we are doing isn’t working. Then making the decision to cut our losses and begin again in a new way.

That’s it for today. Catch you next time.

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