I've come to understand that our expectations of progress and quality work often follow a linear path. However, the reality is that improvement is more like an #exponential curve. It becomes increasingly harder to reach higher levels and produce better work. For example, the difference in rigor between competing at a middle school level and a university level is vast.So, how do we cope with the exponential difficulty of #competing at higher levels? The solution I've found is to focus on slow, steady, and consistent work, while blocking out the outside world. Many people won't understand the tremendous effort required to advance at increasingly higher levels, and may assume it's easy.It's crucial to remember that the journey does become exponentially more #challenging. Nonetheless, taking slow and steady steps is the only effective strategy I've discovered to keep moving forward.