Is Progress the Secret Ingredient to Living a Fulfilling Life?

Progress meters are everywhere.

You know that bar or ring that fills up to 100% or eventually greets you with a check mark? That is a progress meter.

We encounter progress meters every day. The most universal example that comes to mind is the battery icon that fills up when we plug our phones in to charge. As the percentage increases or the color transitions from red to green, a familiar feeling follows: satisfaction.

Are you wearing a fitness tracker, like an Apple Watch or an Oura Ring? Have you used a streaming service in the last 24 hours, like Netflix? Have you played a video game recently, like Candy Crush? Are you learning a new language with a tool like Duolingo? Did you place a takeout order at Chipotle? Or did you make an Amazon purchase over the weekend?

If you said yes to any of the above, chances are you've interacted with some form of progress meter.

Whether it was the activity rings closing on your Apple Watch, the percentage of a Netflix episode you've watched, or tracking how many stops away your Amazon delivery driver is, you've witnessed progress. In some cases, you're observing progress. In others, like hitting your daily step goal, you're actively making it happen.

Now, imagine having a progress meter that tracked your progress toward living a fulfilling life.

That may be one meter that is always in progress…

This thought came to mind when I placed a Chipotle order a few months ago.

If you haven't used the Chipotle app, you place your order, and then a progress tracker lets you know when your order has been received, is being prepared, and is ready for pickup. A little chili pepper icon moves through each stage of the process. As I was tracking my order, I thought, "Huh, what would the progress of my life look like?"

Before Chipotle, progress was already on my mind. Actually, progress has become one of my new favorite words.

My research on living a more satisfying and fulfilling life has shifted my mindset from seeking achievement to enjoying the process of achievement. Until recently, I didn't quite know how to define that space in between starting something and finishing it. Now, I define it as progress.

You may be thinking, "Duh, of course, what happens between starting something and finishing it is progress." I agree. It is a duh type of realization. But for me, it's been a life-altering one.

As I've been diving into the literature to support my hunch, I came across a meta-analysis by Klug and Maier (2015) that examined the relationship between successful goal pursuit and subjective well-being. The researchers analyzed 108 independent samples from 85 studies and found a positive association between successful goal pursuit and well-being. Interestingly, that association was stronger when success was measured by progress toward a goal rather than simply achieving it. Aha!

I also found that what we're making progress toward matters. Not necessarily because of what we'll achieve when we reach the finish line, but because pursuing something meaningful to us may make us more likely to keep going.

Earlier research by Sheldon and Elliot (1999), drawing on three longitudinal datasets, found that individuals pursuing goals aligned with their personal values and interests demonstrated greater sustained effort and were more likely to achieve those goals. When they did achieve them, they also experienced greater well-being benefits.

This tells me that not all goals are created equal, but progress toward something meaningful to us may be especially fulfilling. No real surprise there, but it's a reminder that showing up for ourselves, and for the things that matter to us, is important.

In 2017, Tony Robbins was quoted by CNBC saying, “I always tell people if you want to know the secret to happiness, I can give it to you in one word: progress. Progress equals happiness. There was no formal scientific study that led Tony to this conclusion, but rather a reflection on his own lived experiences and those of the millions of people he’s worked with. More recently, during a 2026 interview on Jay Shetty's podcast, Tony expanded on the idea that making progress can inspire us to share with and contribute to others because, well, we have something worth sharing. I love that perspective because it takes progress beyond the individual and introduces it as an act of service to others, too.

Win-win!

This brings me back to the question I had while waiting for my Chipotle order: What would the progress meter of my life look like? What would it measure?

Would it track how many goals I've achieved, degrees I've earned, or milestones I've reached? Or would it measure the quality of my relationships, the ways I've grown, and the experiences that I have had along the way?

We've become pretty good at measuring what we accomplish. Remember all the progress meters I mentioned earlier? But how good are we at recognizing the progress we're making toward a satisfying and fulfilling life?

Unlike a Chipotle order or an Amazon delivery, living a fulfilling life doesn't come with a final check mark, and there isn't a universal definition of 100%, either. What represents progress for me may look entirely different for you.

That’s what I find super cool about all of this. We get to decide what we’re making progress toward, how we measure it, and what makes the process meaningful. I know from my previous research that progress isn’t the only ingredient to living a more meaningful and satisfying life. But perhaps it’s one more ingredient worth adding to the recipe.

I have much more research to do on this topic, but I'm excited to make progress.

What are you making progress on?

Klug, H. J. P., & Maier, G. W. (2015). Linking goal progress and subjective well-being: A meta-analysis. Journal of Happiness Studies, 16(1), 37–65. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-013-9493-0

Sheldon, K. M., & Elliot, A. J. (1999). Goal striving, need satisfaction, and longitudinal well-being: The self-concordance model. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 76(3), 482–497. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.76.3.482