…but told through the lens of having an Octopus Brain, where progress happens in 47 directions at once and somehow still counts.

A couple months ago, I wrote a blog post called Incremental Gains. It was my reminder that progress doesn’t have to be fast or impressive, it just has to be real.

And now here I am again.

Still not “done.”
Still not where I thought I’d be.
Still learning things the hard way.

But I’ve realized something important:

Not being there yet doesn’t mean you’re failing.
Sometimes it means you’re actually doing it right.

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Progress Doesn’t Feel Like Progress

It rarely feels like improvement.
It usually feels like being stuck.

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Octopus Brain Mode

My mind doesn’t focus on one thing calmly like a normal person.
It jumps.
Website. Photography. Work. Future plans. Random stress. Old memories. New ideas. Half-finished tasks.
Some people have a clean mental to-do list.
Mine is more like 8 browser tabs, 3 pop-ups, and one playing music for no reason.
But here’s what I’m learning:
Messy progress is still progress.

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The Small Wins Matter

I used to measure progress by big milestones.
Finished projects. Completed goals. Perfect routines.

It’s not exciting.
But it adds up.

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The Lie I Keep Believing

I always tell myself:
“Once I catch up, everything will be easier.”

But there is no magical “caught up” stage.
There’s just the next step.
And the next one.

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The Real Win

The biggest win isn’t that I’m suddenly amazing at everything.
It’s that I’m still doing it.

Still learning.
Still building.
Still showing up.

Because quitting doesn’t happen in one big moment.
It happens slowly, when you stop coming back.

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Still Not There Yet

Am I where I want to be?
No.

But I’m not where I was either.
And that’s the part worth remembering.

Not finished.
Not perfect.
Still improving.

Still moving.

Incremental gains. Still.

Sixteen weeks ago, I did 1 pushup.

I know, only 1 pushup. But that was the entire plan.

What’s the point in that? That won’t even accomplish anything.

*this is what someone actually said to me. he said I should start at 10 so it actually does something*

Anyway, I didn’t let that bother me. I just did my own thing.

Now I am at week 16. Sixteen pushups per day.

Am I transforming into a superhero? No. But I am transforming into someone who actually does the thing.

The problem I’ve always had isn’t effort. It’s scale. No, not the one that I stand on that tells me how heavy I am. And NO, not the ones on fish.

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When the goal looks like a mountain, my brain immediately drafts a 47-step master plan, colour-coded and optimized within an inch of its life. I even make a spreadsheet for it. I take something fun and slowly engineer the joy out of it. Then I procrastinate. Then I feel guilty. Then I avoid it entirely.

So, I tried something different… One pushup.

It was too small to argue with.

Today, I had to get caught up. That meant 80 pushups.

I felt like quitting twice.

There’s a phrase I like: Embrace the Suck. Not in a dramatic way. Just in a quiet, stubborn way. The discomfort isn’t a signal to stop. It’s part of the contract.

When I finished my 80th pushup, I felt satisfaction. Not because it was extreme, but because it was earned.

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Will I add one pushup per day forever? Probably not.

At some point, missing a day would mean 200 pushups. Miss two and we’re at 300. That escalates quickly. This system will evolve. It has to.

But right now, the mindset is the point.

Incremental Gains removes the drama. It lowers the barrier so far that starting feels almost trivial. And once you start, momentum does what motivation never reliably can.

This mindset is bleeding into everything else. My photography. My projects. My tendency to overbuild systems until they collapse under their own weight.

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I don’t need a heroic overhaul. I don’t need an overly structured, systematic approach. I don’t need to overthink think this.

I need one pushup. Then two. Then three…

That’s it.

Not flashy. Not extreme. Just sustainable.

And for once, that’s enough.