Make progress part of your process. Process can benefit from my running philosophy; once you start, you can go as slow as you like, but you can’t stop until you’re done, thus guaranteeing progress.

The problem then lies in realizing when progress has stalled. Obviously this applies to different things in different ways, but it helps to set parameters for how slow is too slow.

The definition of done

How slow is too slow also depends on your definition of done. Sometimes the process itself is progress. Yamabushi training is like that. So is basically every martial art or any other art for that matter. That’s why they are 道, do, paths or the way, not destinations.

Beware the resistance

But in a project like mine where I'm documenting the 100 Famous Mountains of Yamagata, for example, the definition of done is videos out in the world.

I’m part way through making a number of videos, I actually have three that are at about 75% each. The main reason? I just couldn’t get round to doing the Mt. Nihonkoku video, as I had put it into the too hard basket. Progress has stalled, it has stopped to be part of the process.

I started this project to learn how to effectively edit videos. Part of that means periodically releasing them into the world. Now I have to set apart time each day until progress becomes part of the process. Although not ideal, even five minutes is enough.

Take this as a promise from me to you that I will be putting out more videos over the coming weeks. Resistance be damned.