Break Through Those Dreaded Plateaus
Yeah baby! I’M KING OF THE WORLD!!!
“Success Is Going from Failure to Failure Without Losing Your Enthusiasm”
~Winston Churchill
People quit easily today—including you and me.
In today’s fast-paced world, you can yelp the best restaurants in your area in a literal minute. The flip-side? Our tech and society make us less patient, more hurried, and overvalue comfort while avoiding any pain or suffering.
Most worthwhile pursuits (e.g. aging healthily, fostering close relationships, mastering a hobby, developing competence, and knowing yourself well) require patience and time …. the exact ingredients that are rare these days.
And worthwhile pursuits come with those dreaded plateaus: times where you just do not feel it or have the motivation.
So How Do You Get Around Those Dreaded Plateaus?
I’ve been wondering the same thing. Here are some tips on breaking through that wall. I hope they are helpful!
Get used to the fact that it’s not going to happen fast. Adjust your timeline and expectations to what is actually realistic.
There is no hack; the journey takes hard work, patience and time. Reframe: While the grind can—and will—suck at times, this same sucky process simultaneously builds unseen rewards. Like money you invest in a compound interest account, the longer time you invest the more exponential your gains. Those rewards will produce tangible fruit that will “breed like rabbits”.
Stumbling Blocks to Reframe:
Woe is Me Mentality. It sounds like: “It’s too hard, these things in life are not fair; it’s not easy for me.”
Comparison. - the thief of joy:
“Don’t judge yourself by others; judge yourself against yourself. “ ~David Goggins
A Christian Take:
Paul’s advice:
“I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. 4 My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me.”
My paraphrase:
“Not only do I not judge myself by what others think; I don’t even judge myself at all. I believe what God thinks of me more than I believe what I think of myself.”
Silence Noise:
Cut out environmental noise and distractions (e.g. External - e.g. internet browsing, cell phone and social media scrolling.
Internal - e.g. rumination about other’s (even well-meaning family and friends) expectations of you, the overly-aggressive internal critic.
Be present and honest with yourself and find your core voice/self: “It’s my own race, my own timeline, and this is how I’m going to run it.”
A Christian Take: To find your most authentic self focus on the Holy Spirit that dwells within you and fix your whole being on Jesus:
“1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”
Summary:
Our tech and society often promote hurry and avoidance of pain. These are not helpful for living fully and meaningfully. Worthwhile pursuits require sticking with it for a long period of time and embracing pain before the great rewards can be enjoyed.
Tips to stick with it over the long haul:
Embrace Realistic Expectations:
There is no hack or silver bullet to get to the treasure.
The Hero’s Journey takes a long time, but that process, and the dragons you fight along the way, are what make it epic.
When Encountering Dragons:
Know it’s normal to face discouragement; keep going!
Turn to a growth mindset-
Dragons are opportunities to level-up.
Kill comparison, it’s useless and hollow. Instead value the truly valuable: personal transformation for its own sake.
Silence noise-
Try Leaves on a Stream to quiet down and get into observing mode.
External - Optimize your environment by getting rid of distractions (e.g. put your phone on silent and in a drawer for a period of time).
Internal - Notice and name thoughts and feelings as just thoughts and feelings (e.g. “I’m having the thought that I can’t do this” is very different from believing that thought is the truth).
Get still and access that deepest part in you that has wisdom, perspective, and transcendence: the you that abides in Christ.
My friends,
We are all on our own hero (or heroine’s) journey and facing our own dragons. When you feel like you can’t keep on, pause, breathe, pray … then take one step.
Toward what matters.
Charles
