Escaping the Valley of disappointment

• blog disappointment public
  • Title:: Escaping the Valley of Disappointment
  • Deadline:: February 14th, 2021
  • Completion:: 100%
  • URL:: https://guillaumehansali.medium.com/escaping-the-valley-of-disappointment-d3d52ba1a356

• Tasks

  • {{DONE}} Gather ideas and references
  • {{DONE}} Write the structure
  • {{DONE}} Write a first draft
  • {{DONE}} Review and second pass
  • {{DONE}} Add photos
  • {{TODO}} Translate in Japanese
  • {{DONE}} Publish on Medium February 14th, 2021
  • {{TODO}} Publish on note

• Ideas

  • Valley of disappointment
    • We expect linear progress but that’s not how learning works
    • it is important to trust the learning process
      • progress compounds over time
  • Sharing my learning experience with Japanese
    • Constantly learning new words knowing that I’ll be able to use them in 6 months for now
  • Flow: learning for learning
    • Leading Brain
      • Achieving Flow To achieve flow, you need a well-defined goal, an optimal challenge, and clear, immediate feedback. The goal supplies acetylcholine to help maintain your focus, 71 the challenge triggers noradrenaline, and the feedback provides you with a rewarding burst of dopamine. (Location 109)
  • Dopamine
    • Dopamine is involved in your ability to update information in memory and also affects your ability to focus on the task at hand. (Location 9)
    • Noradrenaline is at an optimal level when you feel slightly overchallenged; it leads to a “this is tricky but I think I can handle it” feeling. It is also released when you push yourself to perform a difficult task better, faster, or with fewer resources. (Location 10)
  • Goals vs System
  • Self-acceptance vs self-improvement?
    • It is a potential blog post but might be even more relevant here

  • Message

    • Why do we end up giving up on learning new languages, or playing an instrument?
    • Welcome to the valley of disappointment, you are not alone
      • Our expectations of progress are linear
      • Progress is exponentional
        • the part of the curve below the line is the valley of disappointment, or plateau of latent potential
    • Keeping our expectations in check
    • Stop comparing ourselves with others
      • You don’t know at what they failed, you just see their success
    • The impostor syndrome
      • One possible explanation for impostor syndrome is that because experienced leaders often rely on expert intuition to make their best decisions (see chapter 5), these wise choices barely register in the conscious brain, making them harder to recall. (Location 60)
      • The more you learn, the less you know
        • Analogy of the sphere of knowledge expending
    • Understanding dopamine
      • Repetition => less “new”
      • not seeing progress
      • absence of feedback loop
    • Flow is the word

      • There is no standard for optimial arousal

    • Importance of having a routine
    • You need to trust the system
    • Set small, slightly challenging, but achievable goals
    • Small improvements build up over time
    • But, the more you learn, the easier it becomes
      • Associative memory

  • Takeaways

    • Continuous Learning or long term goals are hard to achieve
    • Set the right expectations
    • Don’t compare yourself with others
    • Don’t expect linear progress, it is exponential
    • You need to trust the process
    • Aim for the flow

• Structure

  • Intro
    • Have you ever given up learning a new language, or to play an instrument?
    • Did you feel you were not progressing fast enough? That maybe you didn’t have talent for it? Or you lost any will after watching kids on Youtube shredding their guitar? (note to self)
    • We are expert at giving up ...
    • Something you love ...
  • Welcome to the Valley of Disappointment, you are not alone
    • Introduction to the concept of Valley of disappointment
      • reference to Atomic Habits, James Clear
      • plug to Roam and the benefits of friction-free note taking
    • Progress is not linear, but our expectations are
  • Keeping our expectations in check
    • Don’t expect linear progress
    • Stop comparing ourselves to others
    • Beware the impostor syndrome
  • Flow is the word
    • Understanding dopamine and noradrenaline
    • Flow = optimal level of challenge
    • We all have different levels of optimal arousal
      • testosterone, age, gender, etc.
    • Long term goals don’t engage dopamine, we need to break them down in smaller, achievable goals
  • Importance of having a routine
    • “Improving my Japanese” is not a measurable goal. I would dare to say it’s not even an “achievable” goal. But practicing 30 minutes vocabulary is ...
    • Small, slightly challenging, but achievable goals
    • You need to trust the system
  • The bright side
    • Perseverance sets you ahead of the curve
      • 80% of people who started a Gym membership in January are gone by May
    • The more you learn, the easier and more rewarding it becomes
      • Associative memory
  • The great escape
  • What I’ve learned
    • Getting good at anything takes time and perseverance
    • It is hard to persevere at anything if we can’t see progress
    • Our expectations of progress is what demotivates us, not its absence
    • We are all different and shouldn’t compare ourselves with others when it comes to progress
    • We each have our own “zone”
    • Setting a routine and trusting the process will evolve into perseverance

• Content Check

  • {{DONE}} Has an intriguing title
  • {{DONE}} Is accessible to all public
  • {{TODO}} Includes personal stories
  • {{DONE}} Has clear takeaways
  • {{DONE}} Has no clumpy middle
  • {{DONE}} Has my personal words of wisdom
  • {{DONE}} Has at least one quote
  • {{DONE}} Has references (learn more)

• Article

  • Intro
    • Walking is an extremely hard skill to learn. Toddlers between 12 to 19 months practice more than 2000 steps per day, and fall in average 17 times per hour. That’s about 100 falls per day, and 3000 falls per month.
    • https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3591461/
    • That’s an insane failing rate, but we don’t give up. We work it through.
    • [needs transition]
    • Have you ever given up on learning a new skill? Maybe a new language, or a musical instrument? I can’t count the number of hobbies I have given up on, from sport, to martial arts, drawing, piano, ... the list goes on.
    • Why did you give up? Did you feel you were not progressing fast enough? That maybe you didn’t have any talent for it, or it wasn’t meant for you? Or you lost all your will after watching kids on Youtube shredding their guitars? (note to self)
    • Finding something we love doesn’t happen everyday. You most certainly remember how excited you felt when you discovered a new hobby, and that excitement and passion stayed with you for a little while I’m pretty sure.
    • But then ...