Every meaningful transformation follows this pattern. Whether it's building a product, transforming your health, developing as a leader, or learning a new skill.
We expect linear progress (wouldn't that be nice?), but reality delivers something messier: early efforts that feel invisible, momentum that builds slowly beneath the surface, and a valley where doubt creeps in asking "is this even working?"
I've seen this play out in various context:
The first month at the gym when the scale doesn't budge, but your body is starting the internal transformation for change
Teams pushing through months of groundwork before breakthrough results
Learning a language where you feel stuck, right before suddenly understanding conversations
Products that needed multiple iterations before finding market fit
Here's the hard part: knowing whether you're in a valley worth crossing or a dead-end worth abandoning.
The difference? Valleys have leading indicators of progress. Small signals that you're building toward something, even when the big results aren't visible yet. Dead-ends feel different—no learning, no small wins, no energy. Just depletion.
Smart persistence isn't blind stubbornness. It's having the wisdom to recognize the difference between "not yet" and "not this," the courage to stay the course when the path is right, and the clarity to pivot when it's not.
In product development, it’s knowing when to stay the course and when to pivot. In fitness, it's telling the difference between a plateau and an injury. In careers, it's distinguishing between paying dues and being stuck.
The most rewarding view comes after the steepest climb. And that "overnight success" everyone sees? It was years in the making, most of it spent in the right valleys.
What valley are you navigating right now? And how do you know it's worth the journey?
RE: What valley are you navigating right now? And how do you know it's worth the journey?
Throughout my career I've aspired to huge results, beginning with my 6 year old projection that I would become "the biggest movie star in the world". Ultimately that big thinking transformed into a lot of good things like successfully producing and distributing films no one else would.
Now in my 6th decade when I get inspired by a big idea, I also recon the failures that sometimes were facilitated from the drain of unrealistically overachieving and I slip into the valley of disappointment, reckoning I don't quite have the luxury of not just time but similar desire to pick up and rebuild in decade 7 or 8 if I don't make it work in decade 6, and thus slip further into the valley before moving forward.
How do I know if it's worth it, is a question I'm still navigating without concrete answers.