With my pending departure from the working world, I've been thinking about the direction of my life through my not-long career.
Eleven years ago, I was pretty sad about not being quite good enough at linear algebra in code to be a graphics programmer, but excited about all the money I'd be making at Microsoft.
Or 9 years ago, when I had paid off my student loans and decided that I didn't want to work for a living until I was 60, and then be a tourist.
And 8 or so years ago, when I started doing productive things inside of work to get where I wanted to be and aggressively reading those cliche classics like The 7 habits of highly effective people alternating with books about how to become a CEO in the shortest time possible by climbing the ladder. A big, aggressive company that is very supportive of type-As will do that to you.
Or even 2 years ago, when I started intentionally trying to do productive things outside of work that would move me in a direction I wanted outside of work.
The 11 years ago me? Didn't know that I'd move on to become a game producer at a AAA studio in only 7.5 years. In fact, here at 11 years, I'm senior staff. People actually value my advice. But 11 years ago? Nothing could move fast enough. I hated what I was doing, coding for an aggressive company as an SDET. A lot of time was wasted feeling sorry for myself and wishing things could be otherwise.
The 8 years ago me had to hope for this year, the year I'm finally not dependent on an employer for my income, in order to make it through another work day. I had to dream hard being CEO, about there being some sort of hope, and convince myself that's what I might want just to handle the in-between. But 8 years later, here I am retiring and going to do whatever I want.
And 2 years ago I drew people's faces as a circle with eye-shaped eyes and a triangle minus one line nose and nostrils were so difficult and now? Well I'm still not any good but at least I'm not drawing cheesy 4th-grade icons to fill up faces. And I can kind of play some ukulele!
And it's different when it's you. Progress is glacial. But the you in a year? Or 2 years? Or 10 years? Will be so far beyond the you now, that it's impossible to imagine. Whereas the you in 10 years that fantasized the whole time will be exactly like the you now. What do you want to be, right now? And what are you doing to achieve it?
Real progress is seen in months and years, but gained moment to moment.