How important is progress?

Do you need to be chasing your goals harder?

Wtf is progress, anyway?

Getting better at something?

Doing a thing more?

Progress seems like an easy thing to define: steps taken toward a goal.

Boom. newsletter done. 🎤⬇️

....But is it really that simple? Is it as easy as just saying “I want to do this thing, and here are the steps I’m measuring along the way to do it” and then doing it in order?

In all honesty, very few things in life take a linear path, so maybe defining progress ISN’T actually that easy.

So....progress is defined by a vacillating course that ebbs and flows but ultimately moves toward an end goal?

Feels like it’s getting a little more complicated. 🙄

Ultimately, progress is irrelevant. At some point we will backslide and everything we worked for will (not to get too morbid on you) not matter any more. Because, ultimately, we will all die and it doesn’t matter how many push-ups we can do, what our mile time is, or how many sick yoga poses we can do.

So am I saying we shouldn’t care about progress?

Nah, I’m just saying that it doesn’t really matter. All this stuff - especially exercise - is all made up. Health is largely dictated by bigger social and biological determinants (wealth, race, genetics, etc), and the amount and type of physical activity we need to do to positively impact our health (in the limited way we can) is much less than what most exercise programs would have us believe.

The truth is, that beyond 150 or so minutes of generalized moderate physical activity and 1-2 sessions of resistance training per week, we don’t need exercise - especially the type that shows up on social media.

So all the big muscles, cool tricks, and impressive feats we see on our screens aren’t about health. Talking heads will scream at you telling you that you need a certain level of body fat, to be able to run a particular distance, do a specific number of push-ups, or hold a yoga pose for an outlandish amount of time to be healthy.

While those things might have a positive impact on your health, it’s very likely that it has nothing to do with the specific feat or activity, and much more likely that it improves health because it’s time spent doing physical activity.

It’s not the thing, it’s the time spent doing the thing.

The goal serves no purpose beyond how it inspires us and improves our lives.

If it matters to you, do it. Enjoy it.

If you’re suffering under the banner of “progress,” “transformation,” or “improvement” (especially in the field of exercise/fitness), and it does nothing but cause you pain and anxiety, drop it. That’s not improving your health.

Pursue that which gives you fulfillment and joy.

Use benchmarks along that path to keep your North Star.

I’ve written on benchmarks and progress here and here. There may be challenges (avoiding undue pain and harm is not taking the “easy” path), embrace them as part of the process, for the process and what we learn about ourselves in it is the ultimate goal.