The other day I was talking with a friend about how to get ahead at work and in life.

And we were discussing the very real and very frustrating situation that he found himself in.

He was making a lot of moves, but he didn’t have a lot of concrete progress to show for it.

And let me tell you (like I told him), I understand how frustrating this can be.

We have all been there.

It has definitely happened to me many times.

Like when I spent a year abroad realizing the many ways my thesis project (as I thought of it at the time) didn’t quite work.

But when this happens, it is ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL not to despair.

Because when despair takes control, we fall and STAY down.

You see, it is absolutely essential to keep moving. To get back up and move on.

As long as we keep moving forward and trying new things, we’ll find a better way forward.

(As I did with my dissertation, I’m done and incredibly happy with it in its final form!)

And to do so, we must remain optimistic.

We need to have hope.

Even in the darkest moments.

Which, admittedly, can be difficult when we don’t see concrete progress before our eyes.

But, as I told my friend, it’s empowering to remember that in times like these, we are indeed making progress (despite appearances).

As you can see, in cases like these, we are often making unseen progress.

Like negative progress in learning what doesn’t work. Learning which parts of the possibility space do not lead to where you want to go.

This was actually Socrates’ favorite type of progress.

Know what doesn’t work. What we are not doing well.

And it’s not something to scoff at.

In addition to this progress, there are other types of invisible progress.

Progress you make that doesn’t take the form of concrete results you can see right before your eyes (such as more pages, minutes of content, or products).

The kind of progress you get by doing the legwork.

Making a lot of moves.

When turning an idea over months in your head

Like understanding which knife and method work best for quickly slicing an onion,

Like honing the mastery of the fine details of how to cook an egg,

Or like stumbling upon that perfect way to make a point.

You’ll find that to make that real long-term progress, it pays to STOP focusing on results and KEEP GOING OUT AND PLAYING!

Getting his hands dirty.

Seeing what doesn’t work.

Learning to navigate all that could be to see what should be.

One incredibly powerful way to do this is to adopt the mindset that by continuing to try things even when nothing seems to work, you can rack up all sorts of invisible progress.

Especially negative progress.

So whenever you find yourself struggling and not having much to show for it, remember:

It’s not that you’re stuck in one place.

It’s that you’re making invisible progress.

Progress that will ultimately pay off in all sorts of amazing ways.

As long as you keep it up!

Hope this helps when you’re trying hard but nothing seems to work!