Oftentimes when we are working towards a goal and we are feeling results we get really excited and confident and so we set even bigger goals and bigger ones until we end up with something that was not at all what we have set out to do in the beginning. We have ended up with something that is not even realistic – it’s more of a projection of early progress into the future with the assumption that progress is linear. Let me explain why this is impractical.

When we learn, the learning does not take place in a linear fashion. Rather, we accomplish a great deal and make a lot of progress at the very start of our endeavor – then the progress curve evens out and moves in a more horizontal direction. The shape of this learning curve is very similar to the shape of an amplification curve.

What often happens is that we get really excited by the progress and start setting followup goals that are based on the assumption that this curve is never going to even itself out. When it does even out, we get frustrated and disappointed with ourselves – even if we do hit the goal that we have initially set for ourselves.

The key is not to go past the goal that you have initially set for yourself. Hit the goal – then stop and regroup your thinking for a while. There is no reason to hurry. If you look at all great empires in history – all of them have fallen when the leader has gotten overconfident and tried to accomplish too much in a short period of time. This has usually led to the weakening of the empire and it’s eventual fall.

Your brain grows in the same way. If you make your awareness expand way too fast and set new and higher goals when you have not even completed your current ones, you will eventually crash – ie. get really depressed and disappointed. Instead, consider hitting the top of the curve – then going for a while until you feel that the curve has evened itself out, and then stop.

Do something else and let your mind do the background processing of all the previous knowledge that you have absorbed. Switch your context. Some people do this by taking a vocation, although you can simply do something else that creates a contrast to what you have previously been doing.

When you then go back to the original task, you will find that you have a far easier time making progress than previously. This is because you are at the bottom of the next progress curve and on your way to shoot up yet again. All you need is a little push and you will find yourself making progress.

You are like an electron that is about to jump orbits – all it needs is some energy and it will jump to the next level – and while an electron needs energy, all you need is some extra knowledge that will help you connect together seemingly unrelated ideas that you have acquired from different contexts and expand your awareness.