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We are poor judges of our own progress, and during periods of active change, we tend to get worse.

Retrospection tends to bring the positive experiences to the surface more easily, creating a false picture.

Motivation isn’t a fixed state; it shifts gradually, often well before behavior changes in any visible way.

We need to use measurement, like regular detailed journaling, not instinct when making personal changes.

Think about the last time you tracked your progress on a personal goal. Maybe you were trying to exercise more frequently, be more patient with a spouse or partner, or learn a new skill. Chances are, you had a rough sense of how it was going. And chances are that sense was more optimistic than the evidence warranted.

This is not a character flaw. It is one of the most reliable findings in behavioral science: We are systematically poor judges of our own progress, and during periods of active change, we tend to get worse.

One reason is what psychologists Terence Mitchell and Leigh Thompson at the University of Washington termed rosy retrospection. This is our consistent tendency to remember past experiences more favorably than we rated them in the moment. When we look back over a month of trying to exercise more or sleep differently, our memory selectively surfaces the days we succeeded. The days we failed are there, but they are not as........

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