Hey great read, I'd like to add my own two cents as well, but take it all with a grain of salt because everything must be taken in context, won't try and repeat what has already been said:

1)I encourage people not to worry about what other people are doing because you don't know their lifestyle, just focus on doing what you've planned or been told to do, and do it well

2) you'll have more feelings of bad days vs good days, and it only gets worse as you get better, so stop worrying about seeing improvements day to day, it doesn't happen

Noticeable improvements-
Earliest of beginners(less then 3months experience):
Days to weeks

Beginners (3months-2 years experience)
Weeks to months

Intermediate (2-5 years)
2-6months

Experienced (5+ years)
6months +

Expert (10+ years or professional bodybuilder)

6months plus

This is a rough rough estimate, and the more experienced someone is they may have shorter times to noticeable improvements, I'm also assuming they are training correctly, you can train for years and and people may assume you're still a beginner because you haven't learned basics mentioned in this OP above

Last piece and I'll stop:
Don't rush to get to the advanced movements because they look cool, and don't worry about getting good enough to show off in the gym, pick your jungle where you want to dominate (on the field, in the bedroom, on stage) and use that as your sign of improvement, the gym is your den, you don't need to show off where you should feel most at piece, you should just appeared determined and preparing yourself for when you plan on entering the jungle again

Cheers