When we think about the journey of a thousand miles, we often assume it means constant forward movement.
We picture ourselves taking one step after another, continuing steadily until the journey is complete. But in reality, most journeys involve setbacks. At times, after making progress, it can feel as though we’re actually moving backwards.
That sense of slipping backwards isn’t just your imagination.
Let's say you're learning a language. You have to memorise a few words, and you do just fine. However, you then take on some sentences. Immediately, you find you retain almost nothing. The reason you feel this way is that you're suddenly at a whole different level.
Or perhaps you haven’t fully grasped the new concept yet.
Take for example the cartooning course at Psychotactics. Early in the course, participants learn to draw shadows. Yet it takes most of them time to draw a shadow that's dark and quite intense.
You'd think it was a simple instruction, wouldn't you?
Time and time again they have to be reminded to darken the shadows, but it seems to slip off their rader. Then they have to go back and fix their drawing, when it's brought to their notice. Now “fixing shadows” is only one of many challenges.
When you look at half a dozen elements that need fixing, some of which you have already learned, it feels like you're not making any progress at all.
But here's the key: your true benchmark for progress always lies in the past.
Despite the repetitive glitches, you are making decent progress.
When you look back at your work from a few months—you’re likely be surprised at how childish your earlier work might seem – even to you. Going back to check how you were doing in the past is a task we all should do, because we need that jab of confidence. The present is often a poor indicator of how well you’re doing.
The people who make the journey of a thousand miles know the secret of the thousand miles. It's a lot of fiddling around before finally going forward.
But what if no one else thinks you're making progress, either?
I had this experience when I first started learning graphic design. I knew nothing about fonts and layouts and was keen to learn. My office was right next to a famous graphic designer/creative director.
I would do a rudimentary layout and show it to him, and he would not approve of my design. I'd go back with several amendments, and he would sadly shake his head. Sometimes people come up with random statements like, “Perhaps it's your weakness, and you should do something where you have greater strengths. Maybe stick to cartooning.”
People will always have opinions, but your true benchmark is your own progress.
When I look at my watercolours from 2010, they are indeed childish. The podcasts that I created in 2006 are so terrible that I hope that no one ever gets their hands on them.
My wife, Renuka, always laughs loudly when I say I will use an article from the past, because she knows I will take one look at it and absolutely hate it. Everything I have ever done, whether it is photography or design, feels sloppy and even shoddy.
And you know this feeling to be true as well.
Most adults say things like, “I draw like a six-year-old,” without realising what that really means. In truth, it means they draw better than a five-year-old, a four-year-old, and so on. Even when they’re doing something poorly, they’re still further ahead than before. The journey of a thousand miles is still moving forward, even when it doesn’t feel like it.
Even when your work feels subpar, you are still making progress.
That’s the hidden truth of the journey of a thousand miles: progress is constant, even when it feels like you’re moving backwards. Progress doesn’t always feel like progress, but it’s always happening. And that’s what makes the journey worthwhile.
Oh, and one more thing: get yourself a rear-view mirror and check it often!
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