After being at the same company for over a decade, a friend of mine is trying to switch his job. He has been hustling and doing everything right since the last few months. Every day, he is building new connections and reaching out to old ones, contacting recruiters and HR, improving his skills and getting industry certifications, and diligently applying to advertised positions that are a good fit. After several months of efforts, he is still looking for that elusive offer letter. The market for his skills seems to have shrunk over that decade. The recent layoffs in the tech sector mean he is competing with many qualified candidates for each open position.
Another pal of mine at the gym is on a mission to achieve the holy grail of fitness – the six-pack abs. After 3 months of work-outs in the gym, he is discouraged by the lack of results. He has done all the right things over these months – he has hired a professional instructor, he is following a rigorous diet plan and has shown up at the gym 4-5 times every week. Failing to see tangible results, he is rethinking his quest for the elusive six pack.
Both are asking the same question – “I am doing everything right. Why am I not seeing any results?” Both feel as if they are stuck in a ditch – working hard but getting nowhere.
Our minds expect progress to be linear – effort should lead to rewards as shown in picture above. But in reality, the results of our efforts are often delayed, sometimes by months or even years. James Clear defines this as a “valley of disappointment” where people feel discouraged after putting weeks or months of hard work without experiencing any results.
In any pursuit or endeavor, there is a period of struggle, where progress seems slow or non-existent. Often times people quit too early before they reach the point of critical mass needed to generate success. And quitting becomes easy when the inflection point is unknown – you have no idea when your crawl will turn into a soaring flight.
Seth Godin calls it “The Dip” in his book of the same name that explores the concept of high achievers getting stuck in a trench or rut despite significant efforts. I refer to this period as silent days of compounding where your small actions are accumulating but haven’t yet produced a noticeable result.
We often overestimate what can be accomplished in the short term, leading to disappointment and premature quitting. And we underestimate what can be accomplished in the long term. Next time you feel you are stuck in a ditch even after putting in days or weeks or months of effort and are thinking of quitting, go through the following steps:
- Recognize the Dip: Remind yourself that in any pursuit, there will be difficult periods, where progress is hard and discouraging. Visualize the above graph in your mind. Recognize that all the work that seems a waste may simply be compounding until you reach the moment of breakthrough.
- Evaluate your Commitment: Knowing what you know now after spending time in the valley of disappointment, reassess whether your current pursuit aligns with your long-term goals and if you are genuinely passionate about it.
- Changing the plan is an option: This is when you realize that you are not in a ditch, but rather in a round-about, going in circles. Oftentimes you don’t realize that until you have taken substantial action. Quit or change directions if you learn that the potential rewards are not significant enough, or your effort estimates are wrong – the effort required outweighs the benefits.
- Improve your odds: If you decide to persevere through the dip and stay the course, focus on systems of daily actions and improvements and let them compound. Track and measure your daily actions like your life depends on them – because it does. You don’t know when the compounding will reach the tipping point but you must make your deposits every day. Small actions are mighty when they accumulate.
