Imagine knocking over a bottle of ketchup. As you reach for a paper towel and start wiping, the ketchup spreads, making the mess look worse. But here’s the key: Even though it appears messier, you are making progress. The trick is shifting your perception to recognize that each wipe brings you closer to cleaning it up.
Starting something new in life often feels the same way. Whether learning a new skill, picking up a new habit, or working toward a goal, the first attempts can feel frustrating, chaotic, and even discouraging, like spreading the ketchup!
The Science Behind the Mess
Foundational research in performance psychology, including the work on mindset by Carol Dweck and on desirable difficulties by Robert Bjork, demonstrates a key principle: The subjective feeling of progress often lags significantly behind actual learning and skill development. Consequently, early efforts frequently seem counterproductive, generating a compelling illusion of stagnation precisely when crucial groundwork is being laid. This frustrating disconnect, however, doesn’t have to dictate our response.
As Dweck highlights with the growth mindset, viewing setbacks as part of learning fuels persistence. We can leverage this further by performing a kind of “mindset judo”: Instead of fighting the illusion of no progress, we can use its energy to pivot. We can consciously choose to believe in the progress we can’t yet see, actively visualizing the forward steps being taken in the background.
It’s understandable if this reframing feels awkward or meets resistance at first. With consistency, you may find that believing in your underlying progress grows more natural and intuitive.
A simple way to begin building this skill is to pause each day and tune into your surroundings, noticing even the tiniest positive shift, like a bud emerging with the first gentle warmth of spring. It seems small now, yet it holds the blueprint for future growth. The same principle applies to a seemingly lifeless chicken egg: Day by day, a chick is forming behind the shell, hidden from sight until it finally hatches. In both cases, real progress often happens before we can see it.
Here’s where intentional mind-training comes in: Instead of merely noticing the bud or egg, picture its imminent bloom or the chick about to hatch—an unfolding potential. Each small step may not yield immediate results, but it sparks a subtle momentum that’s easy to overlook if we don’t tune into it. By recognizing these early signs as real progress and feeling into that building energy, you strengthen your commitment to the outcome and help transform unseen possibilities into tangible growth.
How Struggle Fuels Growth
Robert Bjork, a cognitive psychologist at UCLA, has shown how struggling during the learning process can actually enhance long-term retention and mastery. Rather than indicating a dead-end, those moments of struggle can actually signal that deeper learning is taking place. By grappling with something that doesn’t come easily, we engage cognitive resources more fully, forging stronger neural pathways and a deeper conceptual understanding. This kind of effort is what Bjork refers to as a “desirable difficulty.” It’s “desirable” because, though it feels uncomfortable in the short term, it leads to better memory, greater adaptability, and more robust mastery in the long run.
My own story illustrates this. When I began my faculty position in 2007, 95 of my first 100 grant applications were rejected. Each one felt absolutely crushing! Forget spreading ketchup; it felt more like I was personally responsible for a global condiment catastrophe! This fueled the illusion of failure. However, revisiting reviewer critiques became an act of reframing: Harsh feedback revealed how to write stronger proposals. Classic “desirable difficulty,” though I couldn’t see it then! Beneath the surface of those repeated “No”s, crucial hidden progress occurred: Resilience and skills grew.
Eventually, persistence paid off when that hidden progress became dramatically visible: After those ~2.5 years of rejection, three major grants came through, averting a laboratory shutdown and allowing my lab to triple in size. Recalling this pattern builds trust during current challenges. Where have you seen this pattern of hidden progress in your life?
Relatable Messy Starts
Starting something new can expose weaknesses we didn’t realize we had. Consider these examples:
- Starting a fitness journey: You expect quick improvements, but instead, you realize you’re weaker or have less endurance than you thought. The first workouts leave you exhausted. Yet each session builds strength, even if it doesn’t feel that way at first.
- Learning a new language: You assume your memory will be sharp, but early conversations feel awkward, and words slip from your mind. Every attempt cements your learning, much like each pass with a paper towel gradually clears the surface.
- Learning an instrument: You might think you’ll pick it up quickly, but your first notes sound off-key and clumsy. Each attempt has real potential to bring you closer to making music.
Practical Steps for the Ketchup Cleanup Mindset
Apply these steps when facing challenges where progress feels slow or messy, focusing on intentional practice for the best results:
1. Choose your view: Frame the mess, fuel belief.
- Choose your outlook: Frame the struggle as a stepping stone and keep believing. When that tough moment hits, and you feel like you’re just making a bigger mess (like that ketchup!), consciously switch gears in your mind. Don’t let “I’ve failed” be your prominent thought. Try thinking, “This is me learning the ropes,” “I’m gathering info,” or “This tricky part is actually making me better.”
- Then, really lean into believing that progress is happening under the surface, like a seed slowly getting ready to sprout. You can even say to yourself, “Things are moving forward, even if I can’t see it all right now.”
2. Check the paper towel, catch the momentum.
- Here’s the key: Every time you make an effort, each “wipe” at that ketchup spill, you are making progress, even if it doesn’t look perfect or feel like a big win yet. You’re moving forward.
- Like deliberately looking at the paper towel and seeing the ketchup transferred there, tune into these subtle signals. Documenting or simply noticing this “hidden” evidence actively strengthens your conviction.
- Also know that every attempt also fine-tunes your internal toolkit. Your brain is busy forging new connections and strengthening pathways, making you better equipped for the next step.
3. Magnify the wins: Lock in the positive mindset.
- When you spot any tangible sign of progress (even tiny!), consciously amplify its significance. Don’t just notice the “clear spot”; celebrate it as proof that your chosen mindset is effective.
- Explicitly tell yourself: “See? The reframing worked,” or “This confirms growth is happening.” This active validation anchors the positive mindset and builds momentum for future challenges.
Ketchup and Cosmos: Finding Order in the Mess
Carl Jung once said, “In all chaos, there is a cosmos, in all disorder a secret order.” What appears to be a mess is often just part of the process, and consciously shifting our perspective to see the hidden progress within it, each effort transforms into lasting progress; dodging it leaves you worse off, missing out on the insights and growth that fuel real transformation.
Whether you’re wiping up ketchup or navigating a new challenge, remember: Train yourself to see beyond the surface chaos; every step, no matter how chaotic, is a step forward. You’re not just cleaning up a spill, you’re actively choosing to perceive the order emerging from the mess.