80. The Ladder Never Ends | Learning to Love the Climb Instead of the Arrival

10m 35s

The speaker reflects on the disorienting truth that achieving long-sought creative milestones often doesn't feel as rewarding as expected. She shares a guest's experience in acting, where booking jobs felt like resets rather than progress, illustrating how the "base" always shifts—each win becomes a new floor, not a final ceiling. This is linked to the hedonic treadmill, a psychological pattern where satisfaction returns to baseline no matter what we achieve, making the ladder endless and the finish line perpetually moving. The speaker emphasizes that this isn't a personal flaw but a human wiring, and it shouldn't be taken as ingratitude or failure. Instead, she argues, the solution is to love the process itself, not as a consolation prize but as the true purpose. She shares her own journey, noting that despite seven-figure earnings and major career successes, she never felt "arrived"—there's always another mountain, a new season demanding different skills, and continuous growth. She advises creatives to stop waiting for a future level to feel "enough" and instead celebrate current accomplishments, even small ones, before the base shifts again. By zooming out, we can see how much we've achieved in recent weeks, and that recognition fuels the next climb. The core message is to embrace the messy, ever-evolving nature of creative careers, stay curious, and honor each win, because growth is the journey, not a destination.

Transcription

2266 Words, 11748 Characters

English

Speaker 1what if getting the thing you've been working toward doesn't feel the way you thought it would what if every win just quietly raises the bar and the finish line that you've been running toward keeps moving further away the closer you get to it welcome to get messy in a monday mini mindset moment this is the mindset space helping creatives build sustainable successful careers without losing their sanity i'm maddie i've made over seven figures as a commercial voiceover artist and i'm currently in grad school to become a therapist and i will never bs you about what it takes to actually stay in the game i had a guest on the show recently that said something and i've been replaying it in my mind she was talking about her acting career and what she said was i was in a time where i just wanted to book now booking isn't enough i need for one of those to go so i can elevate to the next level the base is always shifting and i've been booking co-stars for years 10 years and i can't get to that next level or i haven't yet every job you get as an actor almost feels like a reset every job feels like a reset and i sat with that for a long time because i think that's one of the most honest and disorienting truths about a creative career that nobody prepares you for we spend so much time of our creative careers in pursuit of a specific milestone just get the agent just book the first job just get the co-star just get the guest star just book the campaign just hit the number in your bank account just hit the next level just become the series regular and we tell ourselves continuously or not that when we get there something will shift something will settle we'll finally feel like we've arrived and i talk about arrival fallacy all the time because we know we know that from so many people sharing they thought xyz was going to make them feel like they've arrived and it didn't somehow and i'm guilty of this too we still feel like when it happens for us this romantic image that we have in our head will come true but for us when we hit this milestone this arrival of this moment in time will feel just so delicious even though everyone else didn't feel like they've arrived we definitely will so then what happens when we do arrive what happens we get there and then the base shifts and suddenly what we just achieved is the new floor not the ceiling we were just reaching for and we're looking up again at the next thing wondering why where we are still doesn't feel like enough and this isn't unique to acting right it's the hedonic treadmill in full effect it's the psychological phenomenon where we return to a baseline level of satisfaction no matter what we achieve the wind feels good and then it becomes the new normal and the reaching starts again knowing that doesn't make it less disorienting but it does make it less personal it's not that you're ungrateful or never satisfied or doing something wrong it's that this is how humans are wired the ladder doesn't end the base is always shifting so if the finish line keeps moving if every achievement becomes a reset what's the point how do you stay motivated and passionate when the arrival you've been working towards keeps dissolving into the next departure and i think the answer is the same one that keeps coming up on this show in so many different forms you have to fall in love with the process not as a consolation prize for not arriving but as the actual point of it all because here's what's true the booking is not the only thing that's going to make you feel that felt like a reset still happened the co-star still went on your resume the campaign still paid your bills and built your reel and prove something to yourself about what you're capable of the base shifting doesn't erase what you've built to get there it just means you're still in the game still growing still reaching the ladder never ending isn't a tragedy it means you haven't stopped it means there's still somewhere to go there's always somewhere to go the creatives who burn out aren't the ones who keep climbing they're the ones who decided the ladder was the problem instead of learning to climb the ladder it's the ones who decided the ladder was the problem instead of to love the climb and what i want to speak to because i've had some people ask me before they have looked at me and i'm so grateful to have achieved the things that i've achieved and to built what i've built and if you've been following me for a while you know that that's kind of been a core belief that i've had to really really continuously work through is that part of me didn't feel like i've built my voiceover career or built as like a business but i did build my career like yes there's a certain amount of luck that goes into booking because there's so much out of people saying yes to you and especially in the world of commercial vo or on-camera commercial there are so many cooks in the kitchen making decisions about who's going to be in that commercial who's going to be on camera like it's kind of unbelievable when you book a job or when you get and half the time we don't even know if we're in the top 10 or the top 20 out of 1200 people like there's just so much information that we don't have so when we do finally book it and when we do like kick it out of the park and make a great new relationship with the engineer and the client and maybe it's a great working relationship when we work with that client for six months or whatever the case may be there's a lot that went into me being able to keep the clients that i have book some new clients and like learn how to show up in the way that i'm really proud and how i show up now however i've had people ask me okay so you've worked on all of these crazy campaigns and you've had multiple six-figure years year over year and you've made over seven figures like just from one client i've made seven figures over the course of a couple years and i've had many many clients that have done that and i've had clients that have done that and i've had clients in many six-figure years and many not six-figure years and so i think the thing is and i've heard this quote from one of my very good acting teachers that said if you are in this career path long enough the trajectory of your career will look like a bad ekg up down all around no inconsistencies sharp turns up sharp turns down and i think the thing for me is like even though i have hit goals that i've wanted to hit i have achieved certain things that i would have only dreamed of achieving like my goals that i've wanted to hit i've achieved certain things that 17 year old self thinks like i'm such a badass for doing that i've never felt like i've arrived at all i've hit milestones but like i'm still the person hitting those milestones it's not that i don't think i'm great it's more like you don't stay there your climb looks different every single season of your career and so i've gotten really good at trying not to freak out about the climb not looking the same and oh my god the climb this season like really doesn't look like what it did last year and so i've gotten really good at trying not to freak out about the climb not but of like pivoting and of trying to get creative and fun with okay what is this season asking of me the industry keeps changing at a rapid pace and it's like okay what is needed of me to evolve and grow into this season what have i not tried before that i need to try like there's always the next mountain to climb there's always the next level of growth to hit there's always the next chapter to open and so like i've had people say this to me before if i booked the way you did i would be talking about it like this and sharing this and doing xyz and social media and i'm like well you'll see maybe you will maybe you won't because the thing is is not that i'm not so proud of the things i've accomplished is that i am always in a level of growth there are times i'm in a session where i'm like oh i'm being pushed to my limits right now like i've done a version of this before but never even this thing and so i think because there's always so much growth and there's always so much change and things to learn it's kept me in what my version of competitive is to be like okay the game continues on and like i look up to that next peak and i i climb through maybe the next valley to even get there so there's sometimes this misconception that when you have a certain amount of money in your bank account or you've achieved certain things that like you have this like overwhelming confidence that you are completely untouchable maybe that's the way for some people i'm confident in some of my abilities and some of my skill sets and i know as a voiceover artist the things that i'm very good at and the things that i am not great at and i constantly have to keep working at them part of my journey has been making peace with all of that and part of my journey has been making peace with the fact that this is my version of the game and this is what keeps me competitive this is what keeps me interested this is what keeps me passionate and i'm always so curious i have a lot of friends who've hit milestones that i've hit and milestones beyond what i've hit and i don't know and the been like dust my shoulders off i am such a badass now now that i've hit this because there's always a next mountain to climb so i did not say that in the most eloquent way which podcast is called get messy so get used to it if you're new here but i hope you understand kind of what i meant to say or what i was trying to say with all of that it really is that the base is always going to be shifting the wind is always going to become the new floor the finish line is always going to move and that is not a flaw in the system that is just what growth looks like from the inside so instead of waiting for the level where it finally feels like enough start asking what it would mean to feel like enough right now at this level with the credits you currently have in this current season before the next booking the next milestone the next version of the bar that you're trying to clear you are allowed to celebrate where you are you should celebrate where you are before the base shifts again because i guarantee you if you even zoomed out and looked at your last three weeks of your life you would have seen that you were able to get to the next level and you would have seen that you were able to get to the next level and you would have seen that you were able to get to the next level and you would have seen that you were able to three weeks of your life you have done crazy amazing shit that was uncomfortable and is allowing you to grow into the next crazy three weeks of your life and that wouldn't have happened unless you showed up for yourself and you need to celebrate that because that is the only way the base even shifts so before you're just looking for the base to shift again celebrate the shit out of yourself you are allowed to let the wind land before you start chasing the next one the if this episode resonated with you please share it with a friend leave a reading a review it really helps the show reach so many more creatives who need to hear it come find me on Instagram at messywithmaddie and tell me what win you haven't let yourself fully celebrate yet. I want to hear about it. I'm always so curious and I want to celebrate the shit out of you for that win. I'm rooting for you today and always. You're the real hero if you've made it this far. Thanks so much for hanging out today and check out the show notes for any resources or cool info mentioned in today's episode or places to follow along if you want to hang out some more. I'm rooting for you today and always. Stay messy.

Podcast Summary

Key Points:

Creative careers often trigger the "arrival fallacy"—achieving goals doesn't bring lasting satisfaction because the baseline keeps shifting.
Every success (e.g., booking a job, hitting a financial milestone) becomes a new floor, not a ceiling, leading to a constant reset feeling.
This phenomenon is tied to the "hedonic treadmill," where humans return to a baseline level of satisfaction regardless of achievements.
The key to sustainability is falling in love with the process, not just the outcome, and treating the climb as the real point.
Burnout comes from seeing the ladder as the problem, not from the climb itself; growth means embracing each season's unique challenges.
Success doesn't guarantee confidence or arrival; even high achievers face valleys, doubts, and new peaks to conquer.
Celebration is crucial—acknowledge current wins before chasing the next goal, as growth happens through showing up consistently.

Summary:

The speaker emphasizes that this isn't a personal flaw but a human wiring, and it shouldn't be taken as ingratitude or failure. Instead, she argues, the solution is to love the process itself, not as a consolation prize but as the true purpose. She shares her own journey, noting that despite seven-figure earnings and major career successes, she never felt "arrived"—there's always another mountain, a new season demanding different skills, and continuous growth.

She advises creatives to stop waiting for a future level to feel "enough" and instead celebrate current accomplishments, even small ones, before the base shifts again. By zooming out, we can see how much we've achieved in recent weeks, and that recognition fuels the next climb. The core message is to embrace the messy, ever-evolving nature of creative careers, stay curious, and honor each win, because growth is the journey, not a destination.

FAQs

What is the 'arrival fallacy' and how does it relate to creative careers?›

The arrival fallacy is the belief that achieving a specific milestone will make you feel like you've 'arrived' and finally feel satisfied. In creative careers, this often doesn't happen because the base shifts—what you achieve becomes the new floor, and you start reaching for the next goal.

Why does every success feel like a reset in a creative career?›

Every job or achievement can feel like a reset because it becomes the new normal, and you immediately look up at the next level. This is part of the 'hedonic treadmill,' where you return to a baseline satisfaction no matter what you achieve, making the finish line keep moving.

How can I stay motivated when the finish line keeps moving?›

The key is to fall in love with the process, not just the outcome. The achievement doesn't erase the growth you've made—it proves you're still in the game, still growing, and there's always somewhere to go, which is what keeps you motivated.

Is it normal to not feel like I've 'arrived' even after hitting major career goals?›

Yes, it's completely normal. Many people, even after hitting major milestones, don't feel like they've arrived because there's always a next mountain to climb. It's not about being ungrateful—it's how humans are wired, and it means you're still growing.

What should I do when I feel like my achievements aren't enough?›

Instead of waiting for the next level to feel enough, ask what it would mean to feel enough right now with your current credits and season. Celebrate where you are before the base shifts again, and acknowledge the uncomfortable growth you've already done.

Why does the 'base' always shift after achieving a goal?›

The base shifts because growth is a continuous process. When you achieve something, it becomes your new floor, and you naturally look up at the next goal. This is not a flaw—it's what growth looks like from the inside, and it means you haven't stopped progressing.

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