I re-watched Cobra Kai when it debuted on Netflix and much like the original film The Karate Kid there are some nice montages of training and tournament fighting. Lots of movies use montages to show the hero making progress toward a goal. Athletic training in real life gives the opportunity to do a high five moment because there is always a first time that the trainee is able to accomplish a task. Whether it’s catching a chicken in speed training or hitting a new personal record for a weight lift or dunking a basketball for the first time there is some obvious way to measure success. But usually there are lots of minor achievements that are nearly imperceptible. For instance I’ve been training for flexibility and from day to day it’s impossible to notice a difference, but if you compared me to where I started the improvement is quite obvious.
Improvements in your business or other skills are typically incremental and imperceptible. In 2016 when the business was in a rough spot and I decided on a new direction there was a ton of steps that needed to happen to achieve the new direction. Each step got us closer to the goal but there was nothing to celebrate. Four years later and the turnaround that I envisioned is by all accounts complete. But the high five never happened. It’s kind of a bummer.