Do you ever look back at your old work products - your writing, artwork, app, and so on - and cringe a little? Are you embarrassed that at one point you thought it was pretty good?
If your answer is yes, congratulations - that means you've grown.
In high school, I thought I was a good writer. In hindsight, my essays were rife with unnecessary metaphors and non sequiturs. My examples sounded symbolic but lacked substance. Often I had even failed to answer the prompt.
In college, I thought I was a good writer. Having realized the error of my flowery language, I sought to be more concrete and precise. In hindsight, I went overboard with this. One professor described my paper as "excruciatingly detailed."
A few years ago, I thought I was a good writer. I had become a better judge of which details to include or omit. My sentences were clear and concise. But in hindsight, my storytelling could've used some work. Though it delivered the necessary information, my writing lacked warmth and relatability.
If I hyper-focus on one of these memories, I may become discouraged. But when I zoom out - when I consider a longer time span - then a bigger story starts to take shape. I see tangible improvements from the growing pains. I recognize progress at each stage. As a result, I'm a far better writer today than I was 5, 10, or 15 years ago.
See, problems arise when we fixate on a single point in time - especially a recent mistake or setback. We may feel embarrassed and disheartened by it.
But snapshots are incomplete and often misleading. What you need is not one point but a series of points - forming a line, trends, and patterns.
At the moment, growth may feel uncomfortable. In hindsight, it may feel embarrassing. But mistakes and shortcomings are signposts showing how far you've come. Celebrate your progress, and keep moving ahead.