What Real Progress Looks Like

The more we are connected to the thoughts and ideas of others on a regular basis the more we give up our willingness to do our thinking for ourselves. This has been shown over time with our growing use of social media and now the growing use of AI. We outsource our thinking and lose the ability to think critically. This has impacted every corner of our society and has shaped cultural norms more than we fully understand.

One of the outcomes of this process has been the simplifying and homogenization of our individuality. Where once we had a broad tapestry of values, beliefs and goals we now all congregate in similar ideological camps.

This shows up in fitness culture more than anywhere else. We've collectively agreed that progress means one thing - and it's usually something that can be photographed or posted. But the people we work with at Timber & Steel tell a different story about what progress actually looks like.

For our members that suffer from anxiety or depression, progress looks different. It's getting out of the house to move their body. It's exchanging a high five with other people a few times a week. The progress is internal and so meaningful.

For those that have had their life turned upside down due to tragedy, progress is finding a new routine that brings structure and helps them see a way forward for their life after everything seemed lost.

For those that have a family history of disease, progress means taking daily steps to keep themselves healthy and living a full life for as long as they can. Not letting a genetic predisposition tell them how their life is going to go is empowering.

For the majority of our members - those juggling kids, jobs, and endless responsibilities - progress is different still. It's seeing their fitness improve despite their busy life. Finding structure that allows them to get stronger in just a few hours a week while staying on top of everything else that matters.

None of these transformations fit neatly into a social media post. They don't make for dramatic before-and-after photos. But they represent the kind of progress that actually changes lives - the kind that lasts because it comes from the inside out.

If you were to step back from all the outside influences that are trying to tell you what you should care about, what would be most important to you? What would progress look like if no one was watching? What's keeping you from making that kind of progress?

These might be the only questions about fitness that actually matter.