When you stop needing people to see how much you’ve changed, you’ve really changed.

Wanting credit for a change keeps the change tied to an audience, and an audience can withdraw. While you need people to notice, part of your effort is still going into the display rather than the thing itself. The quiet stage arrives when the new way of doing things is simply how you do them. Nobody has to confirm it for it to be real.

Notice the urge to mention your progress in conversation this week and let one of those moments pass. Watch whether the behavior holds when nobody comments. If it wobbles without applause, that is useful information rather than a failure.