Keep one example of your early work so improvement has something honest to stand beside.

Progress is nearly invisible from the inside because your standard climbs at the same rate you do. Whatever you make today looks about as flawed as what you made three years ago, since you are judging both with today’s eyes. An old piece kept honestly interrupts that. It is evidence from a position you can no longer reach.

Save one thing you made early on, dated, and resist the urge to improve it. Look at it once a year rather than often. On the days when you feel you are getting nowhere, it will do more for you than any amount of encouragement.