Rejoicing over Isolated Improvements is a Bad Strategy

Asif Ali
Asif Ali
Nov 4 · 2 min read
Photo by Alessandro Di Credico on Unsplash

Take joy in the little happier moments.

Rejoice even in your smallest achievements.

If you have gotten better even the tiniest bit, take pride in that.

Often we’re told to feel good about the smallest improvements. Because that’s the positive way to live. Because those small improvements are a good sign. Because it’s a sign that you’re getting better at whatever matters to you or whatever you were bad at.

That’s not bad advice.

However, the problem is when such improvements are only rare and isolated, and you tell yourself to feel good about it. Because in this situation now, improvement likely happened out of luck. If not, the improvements would be consistent and not isolated. It went good this time not because you did something right but because the stars aligned.

Rejoicing such isolated improvements is a bad idea because they are far from a sign of progress. In reality, they are the sign of your lack of proactive efforts. They are the sign that things remain stagnant for you; that you’re still in the same position; that the improvements that you so desperately want, you’re just too scared and unconfident to achieve.

So, such isolated improvements shouldn’t really be rejoiced. You should take off your optimistic lenses and put on the realistic glasses to see things as they are. See how things haven’t improved; how you haven’t progressed the way you really should have; how you’re stuck in the same puddle.

Read Previous Post: A Letter to Patience

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