Measuring progress by comparing yourselves to others in a given area is the most common way to measure progress.

Another is to compare yourself to what you believe the end goal state is.

Both of these methods are flawed and can easily lead to self-defeating thoughts.

A better way of gauging progress is to focus on the gradient, the learning/achievement rate. Here is why.

The Flaws of State based Comparisons

If you compare your current state to that of an end goal you are faced with a gloomy binary comparison.

You are either in the goal state or you are not. In other words you have either already succeeded or you are currently in a failed state. So for 99% of your journey towards a goal you are stuck with a viewpoint of failing, I imagine this to be rather disheartening.

The other version of state based comparison is when you compare yourself to others.

During my journey to Japanese fluency I often find myself comparing my level of ability with those of other people who are studying. Discarding the very inaccurate perceptions used to judge other peoples levels, there is a deeper problem.

Comparing yourself to others is very similar to comparing yourself to an end goal. The difference being that you are simply introducing more possible states.

So instead of simply failing to be at your end goal you get to put yourself on a ladder with others. While sometimes you may think you are doing well, this is just a tumultuous journey plagued by the basis of shaky perceptions.

Gift of the Gradient Measure

If you use the rate of progress as your primary measure then your focus will be how to be better or go faster rather than where your feet are.

It is a focus on the present moment.

If your goal has objective means upon which you can measure then you will truly have a powerful means of improving your ability to reach a goal.

Not only that but you will be happier on the way.