Progress as a motivator : The subjective dilemma of acquiring skills

We all had the experience of starting a new activity and waking up exited with a sparkle of positive expectation in our eyes.
Novelty rejuvenates our brains, it morphs our tasks into a series of jovial anticipations. We feel more energetic, ready to tackle our day.
At the very beginning of a new endeavor, we tread an unfamiliar territory, every step means progress and every new bit of information is a new discovery.
We come back each day to our task with a growing enthusiasm.
One day, for some reason our excitement starts to dwindle, we feel that we are stagnating, we feel that we are wasting our time in an endeavour that is beyond our abilities.

"We are not made for that", "My genetic make up is not conducive to such activity".

We all heard some variation of the that self-defeating statement.
When a new activity became somewhat familiar to us, the new discoveries that elated us at the beginning stages, seem to elude us.
We start looking for ways to get the fulfillemt we had at the begining of our but alas it doesn't come and all seems bland.

Then we try less and less and less until one day we quit altogether.

Taking on a new activity is about "showing up". "Showing up" every day with no expectations. Our fulfillment should be that one page written or that new world learned in a new language. One day we learn one word, we write one page, the next day we lean two words and fill out a scant half a page of disjointed scribbling. That is what matters most.

Progress should not be the aim, "showing up" everyday should be our goal.

Progress needs to be the involuntary byproduct of "showing up", we never seek it or measure it. It comes to us on its own accord as a result of consistent "showing up".