The “Tart Zone™” — the uncomfortable but necessary phase that anyone chasing exponential growth will experience.
What is the Tart Zone™? It is the zone that many of us find ourselves in when we’re trying to get ahead, but we feel like we’re going backward.”
Speaking directly to the post-New New Year’s resolution crowd, we realize for a lot of people, those January goals “are probably already over” because early frustration feels insurmountable.
Using a simple hand-drawn diagram on a whiteboard, I would like to explain the difference between two types of growth:
- Linear growth (the path most people expect): steady, predictable upward progress over time.
- Exponential or compound growth (the path of the top 1% who want “bigger and bolder outcomes”): a curve that actually dips below the linear path in the beginning before skyrocketing upward.
You can see the linear line and the compound growth arrows below, and the difference between them is highlighted in red.
This is what I refer to as the Tart Zone™,” highlighting the initial dip. For a person who wants to be thinking big and bold… you’ve got to put in the extra work. In fact, if you want to obtain the sweet spot at the end of the day, you have to go through what I refer to as the Tart Zone™.
The key insight: during this phase, even though you’re working harder than everyone else, is that objective results can look worse than if you had stayed on the safe, linear path.
Are you building toward a bigger, bolder future? This area I refer to as the Tart Zone™. When you feel that things are not necessarily going your way, it’s simply because you are front-loading the possibilities in your life. You are experiencing the Tart Zone™ because you’re doing the hard work. Be patient.
My encouragement is clear - Stay with whatever program you have created for your life. Keep doing the hard work. Keep striving for those New Year’s resolutions or the improvements in your life you wish to make. Continue to strive through the Tart Zone™.
The Tart phase is temporary, but quitting during it, guarantees you’ll never reach the sweet exponential rewards on the other side.
