In my previous post, I wrote about how dramatically AI has changed over the past few years.

When you use a technology every day, progress happens gradually and you quickly get used to it. Sometimes only comparing today with where things were a few years ago makes you realise how much has actually changed.

Recently, I noticed the same principle in sport.

In training sessions and smaller competitions, everything can look good: there is progress, results improve, and it feels like you are moving in the right direction.

But a serious competition gives you a completely different benchmark.

It is not only about physical or technical preparation. You also need experience competing at that level. Pressure, more difficult conditions, stronger competitors, mistakes, and the need to make decisions quickly are all things that require practice too.

It made me realise something: you should not train for too long inside a comfortable frame of reference.

You need regular reality checks.

In sport, that means competing at a higher level.
At work, it means solving real problems.
In business, it means facing the market and customers.
In technology, it means testing against the current state of the art.

You should keep training and improving. But from time to time, you also need to step outside your usual environment and ask:

Where am I really?

That may be one of the best ways to understand what is working — and what still needs to change.