So I started swimming with this club in like June of 2021, three times a week, open water in the summer, pool in the winter.
When I started it was my goal to complete all sets in a workout on the send offs; right before Christmas I did it. I had pretty much given up on it and when it happened I assumed that the workout was a fluky easy one. Now however I am finishing maybe a third to half of all workouts, it is like I finally picked up enough speed.
18 months into the routine and still making incremental progress.
I think sometimes that the internet and some media like books and whatnot set unreasonable expectations, like transformation photo sequences from fatty to fit and promises that if you buy into the hype you will be ripped in 163 days or whatever.
Like so many things in life however it may be that a positive feedback loop in life takes a long time to get moving. Not like a negative feedback where your consequences can be almost immediate and compounding.