Progress is lumpy.

It’s not a smooth, linear line. It lurches from plateau to plateau.

I don’t think you can avoid that. Not because it’s some immutable law of nature—it isn’t.

It’s unavoidable because our progress comes from projects.

Once more for the people in the back:

👉 Progress comes from projects.

The act of doing the project changes you. You improve out of necessity, not desire.

Big projects are the most obvious:

• record an album
• prepare for a show
• take a course
• work through a music book

But smaller projects are everywhere too:

• learn a tune
• record a cover
• write a song

And these projects are made up of smaller projects:

• play barre chords
• learn to groove with a click
• get your bends in tune
• figure out how to record yourself in the DAW

So… success should be simple, right?

Just ship a lot of projects:

• learn a ton of songs
• say yes to a lot of gigs
• take more guitar courses
• work through a bunch of music books

Sorry, but it’s not that simple.

To see why, let’s look at the next concept.