Be careful of optical illusions. An illusion is a proof that you don’t always see what you think you do – because of the way your brain and your entire visual system perceive and interpret an image. This is the same with how you sometimes can perceive your progress towards goals you are striving to reach.

You may perceive your current progress not necessarily as progress, thus making you want to do more. This would give you a feeling that you are not making any progress because you are blinded by what we call an “optical illusion”.

An illusion is “a mismatch between the immediate visual impression and the actual properties of the object,” said Michael Bach, vision scientist and Head of Section Visual Function at the University of Freiburg Eye Hospital in Freiburg, Germany. This can explain why we tend to be stuck in this optical illusion of present progress. 

Progress expands much further than we tend to focus, so be aware of this trick our brain is doing. You may think that you are not making any progress, but once you recognize the progress that you have already made and give it time to stabilize you will see that you have come further than you thought was possible. Don’t be confused with the optical illusion of you not progressing in the moment.