All Window, No Mirror

You show them excellence.

Your work. Your process. Your results. You're the living proof that it's possible. You demonstrate what mastery looks like, hoping they'll see the path.

And they admire you. They're inspired. They tell you how amazing your work is, how much they want to be able to do what you do.

Then they go home and nothing changes.

This is the Window problem: aspiration isn't transformation. Seeing what's possible doesn't automatically create a path from where they are.

Why Windows Don't Transform

A window shows you a destination without showing you the journey.

When you demonstrate mastery, you're showing the output of thousands of hours of practice, failure, and refinement—compressed into a performance. They see the result. They don't see the process that created it.

Worse, the gap between where they are and where you are can be demoralizing rather than motivating. If the destination looks too far away, aspiration becomes despair. "I could never do that."

The Window-only approach also assumes they know where they are. Often they don't. They can't chart a course from A to B if they don't know they're at A.

You're showing them a destination without giving them a map, a vehicle, or even a "you are here."

What Windows Plus Mirrors Looks Like

The Window becomes transformational when paired with a Mirror.

• Show the gap explicitly. Don't just demonstrate mastery—demonstrate the specific difference between what they're doing and what you're doing. "Here's what you did. Here's what I did. Notice the difference here."
• Break down the journey. Your mastery is the sum of many small improvements. What was the first one? The next? Show them the steps, not just the summit.
• Reflect their current state. Before you show them what's possible, help them see where they are. Diagnosis before prescription.
• Make the first step visible. What's the smallest move from their current position toward yours? Not the whole journey—just the next step.

The Window inspires. The Mirror locates. Transformation requires both.