We experience small periods of sudden drastic change (improvement spikes), sometimes followed by a small decline in progress directly afterwards, and then long periods where “nothing” occurs. I could so use the word HATE for this.. But it is during this period, the long and boring time where we feel stagnated, that we can lose motivation. These periods can go for months, even years, and without a known end to the plateau in sight it is too easy to feel that our progress has stalled indefinitely. This is the single biggest reason why most people fail to implement changes in their life.

I would be lying to you if I said progress plateaus don’t exist but it's like a monster lurking in the shadows waiting to attack you in your weakest moment, and then not tell you how to beat it! You’ve just got to face facts. The progress plateau is not some crazy creature I invented just to scare you (and yes I am well aware that I just referred to it as a monster in the previous paragraph but that’s just the start of the beauty of my poetic words lol). You need to accept that the progress plateau exists.

Making a conscious decision to believe in the existence of progress plateaus means you will be more likely to identify them when they pop up. How many times have you heard a new phrase or learned something new and then you start seeing and hearing it everywhere? This happens often to most people because of the way our brain processes information. When we become aware of new facts our brains start being able to identify and categorize instances that align with that new piece of information. Without the specific facts the brain would just say screw the incoming info because it has no reference to compare it to. The same happens for progress plateaus.

By bringing the plateau into focus, you enable the brain to identify them more easily. We give ourselves a chance to realize that we are not under-performing, but we are just experiencing a plateau before out next big advance. We can remind ourselves that the plateau is just the calm before the storm.

So think, before you begin being so hard on yourself. Try this.

1. Accept that Plateaus/Setbacks Exist

2. Look back at your entire progress

3.Remember how good the sudden spikes feel

4.Other people are on different progress cycles

Lastly, when looking for motivation, it is helpful to consider how far you have come from the moment of initiation. Don’t let yourself be fooled by the recent progress. Only consider the overall trend.