Progress bars are a useful tracking tool. They show us how far we have come and how much further we have left to go. But they only work when you know what you are tracking and if the progress is linear.
In a world that measures most things on a linear scale, it is easy to write off any other type of progress. It’s also easy to get frustrated when things that we think should be linear aren’t—like the development of our relationships or careers or ourselves.
If you think you should be further along than you are, it’s likely because you are trying to fit something that isn’t linear on a linear scale.