Apprentice years are slow on purpose. Masters were apprentices who didn’t leave.

Early stages move slowly because what is being built is not visible yet. You do basic tasks, watch more than you act, and gather the kind of judgment that only accumulates over time. It feels like being underused, and plenty of people leave right at the point where the slow part was about to pay. Nobody skips this stage; they shorten it only by mistaking impatience for ambition.

Set a real length of time you will stay before judging it, and honor that. Meanwhile ask for one harder task each month. Slowness is easier to sit with when you can see yourself moving.