I've been going to the gym a lot lately, and unlike previous gym going sessions in my life, I'm enjoying it! It's been about a month - far too early to have a defined six-pack, or defined muscles in my arm, or that V by my hips. That requires a much longer commitment - something I am prepared to do, for now, but motivation and willpower have a personal limit. Those moments of definition are important milestones to keep me going - it's just a shame they're so far down the road.
But progress is more than just the bodily changes. To move from the top rack of dumbbells (~25lbs) to the middle (~30) feels like a new level in a game. To take the pin out of a rack and move it down one more plate is the weight equivalent of marking your height on the door frame as a child - but the other way. When I first started, I noticed I biked just over 10 miles in 30 minutes. Last week, I did the same distance in 25 minutes. Flat.
I guess what I'm saying is, there is more than one way to see yourself moving the direction you want to go. It's just easy and scarier to measure it the way others have done it - Instagram models, trainers, and ads touting GET ABS.
Write one page a day, and in a year you've written a novel.