What to Do When You Reach a Plateau
It doesn’t have to derail your progress
Four years ago, I began a journey of personal growth. I started reading for two hours each day, jotting down notes with focused intensity. Then I started publishing two articles a week to share the ideas I was learning. It felt like a new world had opened up to me, one that helped me understand myself and the people around me, and I wanted more.
But after a few weeks, my mind froze. Suddenly, I didn’t have the energy to read, write, or think, and I couldn’t didn’t understand why. This went on for days.
When I finally felt better, I picked up where I left off. This time, I stayed on course a bit longer — about two months — before I hit another one of these of these strange mental blocks. I pushed through, but it was tougher. I didn’t get the same satisfaction out of it. This kept happening again and again: Things would go back to normal, and then they’d veer off course.
Finally, I realized something: Personal growth happens in phases. Before you can move onto a new phase, you must get through a plateau.
At the beginning of each phase, things are easy because everything is new. You’re running. You have momentum. You feel limitless. But the closer you get to the end of a phase, things become more difficult. You get…
