SLOW MOTION IS BETTER THAN NO MOTION

There’s a saying in the military when troops are staring in the face of what seems like an unsolvable problem. They ask each other “What is the best way to eat an entire elephant?” and the response is always “one bite at a time”.

When we chase our dreams, attain our goals, improve our relationships, raise a family, or do anything worthwhile in our lifetimes, we expect progress to come quickly all the time. We hope to sprint through each challenging moment with ease and pass every test with flying colors.

But progress, especially over long periods of time, actually slows down, changes pace, grinds to a halt, or even goes backwards. The important piece is to never stop.
What happens is, as the days and weeks and months roll by, after days of continual and incremental progress, we look up and look around, and we are further along than we could have ever imagined at the start.

We start the business, lose the weight, have a happier marriage, all because we just never stopped.

We all tend to overestimate what we can get done in a month, but underestimate what can get done in a year.

Since we just rang in 2026, it might be helpful to think about Bitter Truth #1 in the context of social media. Users across the world post a photo dump of their year in the rearview mirror.

All the places they went, goals they achieved, and people they met are highlighted over the course of the last 365 days. None of those amazing moments would have ever been possible if they just sat at home and did nothing day after day, all year long.
On days where we don’t feel good, don’t feel motivated, can’t seem to find a rhythm or a groove, all that is needed is to continue to do the work required for that day, and get up and try again tomorrow.

Or in the words of my Washington Wizards teammate CJ McCollum: “Just keep swimming”.

Cheers,
Corey Kispert