Look back to see progress

Often when trying to get better at something progress, at some point, starts to slow down. At the beginning there will be huge improvements and progress will happen quickly. Eventually that slows down, but that doesn’t mean progress is stopping.

In order to see that progress you’re going to have to zoom out a little bit. You can’t look from day to day anymore, or week to week. Look from month to month. And even larger than that; year to year.

Then you’ll start to see the progress. What were you playing or doing a year ago? What are you playing or doing now?

I even notice this in my own music. I’m putting together some new songs that’ll be released soon and comparing the music production to my album Expanding (An Electric Symphony), there’s a huge difference. The compositional technique is a little different, but the main difference I can notice is how much better I’ve gotten at music production and music synthesis.

That album was released just over three years ago. That’s three years of making music and producing music in between. I’ve made tons of songs in that time. Many of which have never and will never be released, but they were still practice. They still helped me improve.

So if you’re trying to get better at something or feel like you’re stalling try to zoom out. Then you’ll likely be able to see some progress.

ISJ