When we start doing something new, we often get discouraged pretty soon by the results not being good enough. If we are just starting out on something, it must be expected that it will not be so great in the beginning. For instance, the first couple of months at a gym or a new workout can be excruciating and feel miserable. But once you start developing muscle memory, things get better. Even though you keep challenging yourself, you know what to expect and there is the self fulfilling cycle of results and effort.

So a better way of looking at progress is to work our best, with sincerity and be consistent. We do need to make the effort to learn and keep improving continuously. Anything worthwhile will take a long time to achieve. We need to set our expectations accordingly.

It can be tempting to get discouraged by those initial days/months of crappy results. But we need to just keep putting in the work, even on those days where we are not motivated.

Its often helpful to focus on the process than on the outcome. As long as we are enjoying what we are doing, we are already getting the benefit from it.