JUST BECAUSE YOU CAN’T SEE PROGRESS DOESN’T MEAN IT’S NOT WORKING

Progress is that elusive, slippery little beast that is always turning up after the status meeting is over. Everyone wants to feel it but the uncomfortable truth is that real progress rarely announces itself with fireworks and a KPI dashboard. It is sneaky but that does not make it less powerful. 

To the outside world, it might look like you are plateauing when inside you are learning to breathe through pressure instead of panic, you are building systems, not just solving fires, and you are resisting the urge to respond immediately, react emotionally, or triple-check the calendar invite for the fifth time. That is preparation, the work that makes future wins possible.

Founders fall for this, too. Because if revenue is not jumping or new clients are not flooding in, it feels like failure. Not every win fits neatly into a slide deck, sometimes your biggest achievement is not losing it where someone explains your own job back to you. Or showing up even when motivation took a personal day. Or pushing back (respectfully) on a decision that used to make you nod and smile through gritted teeth. You are not the same person you were six months ago and just because your progress cannot be summarised in a bullet point does not mean it does not count.

The next time you doubt whether you are growing, ask yourself whether in the past you would have handled this better or worse? If the answer is “worse,” congratulations, you are evolving.

Growth often starts like a root system, invisible but essential. The habits you are building now, the boundaries you are finally enforcing, the difficult conversations you are having, not avoiding, are the foundations that will carry you when the big, visible wins arrive. They are why you will be able to scale, promote, delegate, or lead without panicking. 

Just to be clear, here are some unofficial-but-very-real signs you are making solid, quiet progress:

• You now delete angry drafts instead of sending them.

• Your Teams messages are calm, even when your blood pressure is not.

• You are more focused on solving problems than being liked for solving them.

• You can smell drama from a mile away, and steer clear with grace.

Not every victory makes a noise, some of them just make your life a little easier. So if it feels like nothing is happening, remember, some of the most powerful shifts happen before anything looks different on the outside.

Progress does not always come with applause, and it definitely does not refresh in real-time like your inbox. But it shows up when you look back and realise that the thing that once drained you now barely makes a dent. It shows up when your day feels lighter, your leadership lands better, and your choices feel less reactive and more intentional.

So if you are building, growing, or just surviving the weird middle, keep going.

Some of the most meaningful momentum grows in silence……until one day, everyone else sees what you have known for a while: You have been levelling up all along.