Level Up With Continuous Improvement

Stunning results require incremental growth that largely goes unseen.

“Small daily improvements over time lead to stunning results.” — Robin Sharma

Growth rarely happens overnight.

It builds incrementally away from the sight of others. The effects of growth are not unlike the pressure within an active volcano. The roiling magma beneath the surface attracts little attention until the volcano erupts in a fiery conflagration.

The same concept applies to growth in your life.

Growth is achieved in small increments through consistent and deliberate effort. You may endure long periods of barely noticeable improvement. But like the volcano, pressure builds until one day growth erupts in plain view.

Consider the life of a stonecutter from muckraker Jacob Riis:

“When nothing seems to help, I go and look at a stonecutter hammering away at his rock perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred and first blow it will split in two, and I know it was not that blow that did it, but all that had gone before.”

The most dangerous period of growth is at the beginning.

We humans are a hasty bunch. We are wired for instant gratification. We expect to reach our goals in giant leaps, but life often disappoints us as does a stubborn mule.

There is great resistance... until one day all resistance disappears.

A breakthrough moment occurs. This leveling up is typical of how skills are developed and goals are achieved. Improvement builds beneath the surface and erupts into plain view in uneven intervals.

Like the stonecutter, you must keep hammering away.

The stone surrounding your goal will resist, but you must not yield. Each blow weakens resistance in imperceptible ways. The stone will crack suddenly not from the last blow but from all that preceded it.

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🤔 Food for Thought:

Do you remember your most recent breakthrough moment?

What was it, and how did it make you feel?

How much effort went into achieving that one moment?

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⚙️ One Small Step:

If you are frustrated by the pace of improvement toward a goal, remember the stonecutter. Keep hammering away through consistent, deliberate effort. Celebrate barely perceptible improvements, because they will lead to breakthrough moments.