Monday Mindset: The Progress Spiral
It’s all about perspective.
So much of our practice is routine — in a sense, we are running the same route over and over again. Rope, shadowbox, pads, spar. Warmup, drill, roll. Day in, day out.
The scenery doesn’t really change too much and it can be easy to feel like we are simply running in circles without getting anywhere.
But a spiral will also look like a circle from the top down, because we have no sense of height. From the side, however, we can see that the road circles upwards. Sure, we are basically running in circles, but we are climbing as we do.
Progress is one of those things that you rarely feel, and you almost never see, especially if you are not competing often.
It’s further complicated by the progress that your teammates are making around you They are getting better too! So it seems like everyone is deadlocked in place.
Perspective is everything. It may be difficult to feel progress. It may be difficult to even see it. But if we can change our perspective on the routine nature of training, and realize that it’s not a circle but rather a spiral, then at least we can visualize it.
At the end of the day, there is no substitute for time spent practicing. If you practice, you will improve!