Is a growth curve really a "curve"?

There is a term called a growth curve.

It is a term used as a matter of course in business, learning, and personal growth.
But recently, I have begun to feel a slight sense of discomfort with this term.

Is growth really a "curve"?

What feels closer to my actual experience is not a curve, but a staircase.

For a certain period, a state of almost no change continues.
There is no major difference between yesterday and today in what you can do, the scenery you see, or the words you use.
Then, at a certain moment, your perspective suddenly opens up.
Understanding connects, actions change, and the precision of your words rises to the next level.

And then, you spend some time at that same level again.
It is a repetition of that.

However, this "time spent at the same level" is tricky.

People inevitably desire "the feeling that they are growing, even if just a little."

Therefore, when a period that feels like stagnation continues,
questions like these start to arise in one's mind.

• Maybe I don't have the talent for this.

• Maybe my efforts are directed in the wrong way.

• Maybe I'm not cut out for this in the first place.

Looking back, I thought that one of the causes creating this doubt might be
the phrase "growth is a curve".

If it were a curve, it would be strange if it weren't trending upward, even if only slightly.
If you aren't rising, it looks like you are doing something wrong.

That is why I think it might be better to rephrase it like this recently.

Growth is not a curve, but a staircase.

If it is a staircase, you can perceive that you are just on a landing right now.
Even if it looks like you aren't moving, you can understand it as a preparation period to climb to the next step.

"Now is not the time"
"But, one day I will definitely go up a step"

It would be good if there were a little more of that common understanding.

There is one more thing I think is important.

The moment you suddenly grow is not a coincidence.

I perceive it as "the moment when the materials are all gathered."

Knowledge, experience, failure, a sense of discomfort, the words of others, and moments of silence.
In some cases, it also includes physical sensations and unconscious realizations.

Those materials do not make sense on their own.
But when several of them come together and take a certain arrangement,
suddenly, everything connects.

At that moment, you climb one step higher.

That is why I think.

To fully believe in this growth,
it might be important to verbalize the materials needed for each step.

What stage of gathering materials are you in right now?
Is what you are lacking quantity, quality, or perhaps physical sensation?

If you can verbalize it,
you won't have to deny your "not-yet-growing self."

Growth is not something you can feel every day.
But it is precisely during the time when nothing seems to be happening that
preparations for climbing to the next step are progressing.

I have started telling myself that.

In this way,
"Is growth really a curve?"
"Wouldn't it be more comforting to think of it as a staircase?"

Are there any readers who have suddenly had such strange questions triggered?

If so,
you might just be on a landing right now.