Harnessing Progress Framing for Motivation

Luna Fielding

Welcome back to Ascend Altitude Sessions. Today, we’re inviting you to notice something subtle but surprisingly powerful: the way we frame progress, and how it colors motivation. Is your focus on what you’ve achieved, or what’s left to do? It seems simple, but, as Tversky and Kahneman outlined, how we frame a decision—what they called the 'decision frame'—can shift the ground under our feet. Marcus, you’re a systems guy—this tension between “look how far I’ve come” and “look how far I still have to go”—how do you see it showing up in real life?

Marcus Walton

Hey Luna, yeah, that’s the classic achieved versus remaining framing. So, okay, in running ultras I tend to start out measuring kilometers done—I’m like, “Alright, knocked out the first fifteen.” At that point, counting what’s behind makes the mountain feel doable. But—and this is weird—near the end? It totally flips. I start counting down, like “just twelve minutes left, just one more turn.” There’s this theory, the Small-Area Hypothesis, which, uh, basically says we get charged up by whatever bit of progress looks smallest. If “completed” is a small sliver at the start, staring at it makes it feel meaningful. At the finish, that last little “remaining” chunk? Suddenly, it energizes you to push through because it’s so close.

Maya Calder

That totally tracks with me when I'm bouldering! The first moves, I brag to myself about “hey, I’ve actually started,” you know? But as soon as the finish is close enough to, like, jump for it, all I see is what’s left. Just the last holds. Luna, do you see the same pattern, like in changes people make?

Luna Fielding

Absolutely Maya. Whether it's recovery or building up small daily habits, our minds love the illusion of fast progress. At first, noticing even 10% complete can feel monumental. If we fixate on the 90% remaining at that stage, though, it's kind of paralyzing. But toward the end, when there's just a tiny gap left, focusing on what's “to go” creates this magnetic pull toward completion. I wonder if we spend enough time choosing which framing we use, or if we just fall into these habits by accident.

Marcus Walton

Probably the latter, honestly. I mean, who stops to ask, “Should I look back or look forward right now?” But the science really shows—our motivation runs on these switches. When you direct attention to the smallest area, the progress feels most tangible. That’s actually a big part of how feedback systems work in tech, which I guess tees us up for some of the real world stuff later… But before we get there, I’m curious, Maya, does this kind of framing affect, like, your coaching clients too?

Maya Calder

Oh, definitely Marcus. For newbies, I’m all about “look at your win!” because they need to feel it’s worth it to start. But once someone’s confident, shifting focus to the “what’s left” zone really lights a fire under people. Uh, but sometimes that whole frame backfires...which, Luna, I think you’ve seen firsthand, right?

Luna Fielding

Oh, so many times. I’ll share one that’s stuck with me from a late shift at the crisis hotline. We had this caller who was getting her life back together, step by step. Each time she’d call, we’d celebrate those incremental wins, just a day clean or making that first appointment. At first, marking achieved progress really bolstered her sense of self-efficacy...but I noticed, if we leaned too hard into “look how much you’ve done,” she’d sometimes get this feeling of, well, permission to let things slide—almost as if progress became an excuse to rest or regress. It’s called self-licensing, right? Sometimes, when you see yourself as the hero of your own progress bar, you start feeling like you’ve “earned” a bit of leeway…

Maya Calder

Oh man, so guilty [laugh]. If I finish a killer climb, my brain’s like “time for fries!” Not sure that's science, but it happens. But then there’s the other side, the “goal coasting” thing—I see it tons with folks stuck around the halfway mark. Suddenly motivation just evaporates. We’re talking the infamous “stuck in the middle” effect, right, Marcus?

Marcus Walton

Exactly, Maya. That fifty percent zone is brutal. The data points to this “motivation valley” right at the midpoint—progress feels hardest and least valuable. Psychophysics stuff. If you don’t reset with some kind of subgoal, or switch the way you measure progress, you can lose your drive. Designers sometimes build in milestones or visible streaks just to avoid that dead zone. But it also means, if you set up your own system, you gotta know when to flip the script—from “look how far I’ve come” to “what’s still on deck.”

Luna Fielding

And all of that’s so delicate, right? I learned I had to hold back just enough—celebrate, but never signal “you’re done.” Sometimes we need to keep the horizon just out of reach. It’s, um, a bit like that saying, you don’t climb the mountain by only admiring the view from halfway up. But I do love how, as we layer each of these ideas, we keep bumping up against motivation’s fragility and its resilience. And Marcus, I know you see a lot of this interplay in—well, tools and apps, and even, honestly, the way professional teams work. Shall we open that door?

Marcus Walton

Let’s crack it open. So, think apps like Duolingo—they use achieved framing with streaks, right? Every day you finish a lesson, it’s like, “Congrats! 38-day streak, don’t break it!” That’s textbook to-date framing, and it keeps people glued to their routines. But then if you mess up, Duolingo flips to remaining framing: you’re out of “hearts” and suddenly feel how far you have to go to restore your streak. They’re playing both sides pretty strategically.

Maya Calder

And Nike Run Club’s the same! Total completed distance for beginners, but then for folks actually chasing a marathon or whatever, the audio cues count down the minutes or kilometers left. They even toss in subgoals—little milestones that “ding!” as you progress. It’s like feeding you just enough dopamine to keep you engaged, but never letting that finish line feel unreachable or, honestly, anticlimactic.

Luna Fielding

I see this as well in professional tools. Asana, for example, splits the difference—one panel shows all the tasks you’ve finished, a celebration of momentum. But then right alongside is a vivid display of open tasks and “red flags”—the sobering to-go frame nudging you to keep moving. The progress bar paradox is real: if everything goes to 100%, our brains want closure and disengage. But smart tools give badges, infinite streaks, or keep pushing “what’s next?” so the journey always continues. Marcus, you ever get that hollow letdown at the end of a big project, like, “Now what?”

Marcus Walton

Absolutely. That’s why I love tracking open-ended stuff—like, uh, say, a beekeeping log. Instead of “I’ve harvested X pounds this year and I’m done,” I focus on “hive health days maintained.” Every day I record a check-in, I’m reinforcing maintenance. It lines up perfectly with what the research calls maintenance goals—motivation actually spikes the more you sustain an ideal state, not just when you’re about to finish something. I guess, bottom line, it’s about picking which frame is right for the life cycle of your goal and knowing when to shift gears.

Maya Calder

And if you’re not sure? Play around with it! Try celebrating little wins, then, when you find your energy dropping, switch to the countdown—or set new subgoals. I mean, it’s messy, but that’s, like, the point. We’re not robots. If your progress bar’s making you anxious, scrap it and celebrate the next tiny thing.

Luna Fielding

That’s such a resonant note to end on, Maya. I love the idea that we’re not locked in—we can move between frames. Whether you’re tracking streaks, conquering mountains, or just trying to make it through the week, let these ideas be flexible tools, not rigid rules. Let’s plant that as a seed for your own practice this week. Thank you both—this was a rich conversation, as always.

Marcus Walton

Agreed Luna. Appreciate the reflections—and the chance to diagram a few trails together [laugh]. Catch you next time.

Maya Calder

Bye, Marcus. Luna, thanks for the stories. And thanks to everyone out there—we can’t wait to hear what framing works for you. See you in the next session!