I know that effort pays off in the end

There is no visible seam in a year of guitar practice. No Tuesday where the fingers suddenly knew, only a long stretch of sounding bad, and then a recording from last March that is faintly embarrassing to listen to now.

The payment is real. It is just made quietly, in a currency you did not choose, and often it is not the thing you were practising for.

Which means the only honest way to check is backwards. Forwards it will look like nothing is happening, right the way through the part where everything is.