Where Progress Happens
Author
Date Published
The Pattern
Growth, development, and performance don’t just rise in a clean, straight line the
more you train.
Performance is non-linear.
That means your progress might not show up right away — it might stay hidden
for weeks or months, then suddenly appear all at once.
The real gains often arrive in boosts and clumps.
Sure, some improvements happen quickly, like getting more comfortable with a
new drill or movement pattern. But overall performance, especially as you get
older, usually follows a different rhythm.
I’ve had times I trained my ass off for 4–5 months straight — 16 hours a week,
fully locked in — and felt like my game hadn’t moved an inch. I’d question it. I’d
wonder if anything I was doing was working.
But then, out of nowhere — it hits. A new level. A gear I didn’t have before. The game feels different, sharper, more
in control.
That jump didn’t come out of thin air. It was the result of the building phase.
All the unseen work — the reps, the mental shifts, the nervous system adaptation
— created the conditions for that mini-evolution. That’s what non-linear
growth really is.
It’s not tit for tat
Why does this matter? Because you need to understand: you’re still putting
points on the scoreboard, even when it doesn’t look like it. Progress is being
made beneath the surface. You’re building for a boost — and when it hits, it’ll feel
like it came out of nowhere.
Right now, I’m in a phase where I could spend 10 hours a week on the ice for five
straight months and still not see a drastic change. That’s normal. That’s how
growth works at higher levels. But I trust the work. I trust the volume, the detail,
and the energy I bring — because I know it’s stacking up.
Same goes for you. Keep stacking. The leap is coming. That’s why I keep showing up. That’s why I don’t panic when progress hides.
Because when it hits — it changes everything. that will eventually break through.
That’s why I keep showing up. That’s why I don’t panic when progress hides.
Because when it hits — it changes everything.