Moving Through Plateaus To Success

By Kevin Sinclair

Do you feel you have reached a plateau in working towards your goal. Don't get too discouraged, plateaus are normal. In fact, why not give yourself a pat on the back for how far you have actually come. When you first started moving towards your goals, you probably made some big strides and you got really excited about your progress. You probably thought you would achieve your goals in no time at all. Then you find your progress slows and you reach a plateau where there seems to be no progress at all. You are not alone.

Everyone reaches periods in which they plateau before moving forward again. It is just natural. You start out with a steep learning curve whenever you begin a new project. However, once you have got the basics down you may well begin to ask yourself "What am I supposed to do next?" or "I know what I should do, but just can't seem to manage it."

All growth happens in stages. From the time we are conceived our growth is exponential. Yet, from the moment our cells divide and multiply till our birth it will still take nine months. It will still be another year before we can confidently walk and then another fifteen years before we begin to drive. Do you realize that if a human being continues to grow at the same rate they did in the womb, they would be many times larger than that car!

Dieting is a good example of how this works. You can lose a lot of pounds quickly, and so you continue to expect the same amount of weight loss every week. Unfortunately, this is not the way your body works. Over time you do not lose weight as quickly as at the beginning of your diet. The main thing is that you continue to lose weight and that you do not regain it. It is far better to aim for a healthy lifestyle change than to simply target weight loss.

Most of us have heard kids say they can't wait till they grow up. We can probably remembering saying it ourselves when we were kids. The thing is, growing up seems to take such a long time, but everyone grows up in the end. Sometimes growth seems to plateau but it is still happening, just a lot slower than you want.

Just relax and stop worrying. Have some fun, take the time to get an education, learn from people who already have the success you want and enjoy where you are at right now. Sometimes we are moving forward when we feel like we are standing still. This is because we may not see any external signs of progress. However, there can be plenty of changes occurring on the inside which will eventually help us to achieve our goals. If you try to rush things, you can actually get in your own way. If you destroy a cocoon, you will destroy the butterfly. The incubation stage is also very important.

Top athletes and performers use their imagination to break through genuine performance plateaus. By visualizing the perfect accomplishment of their goals with clarity and strong emotion, they can achieve things they never thought possible. So can you. You can develop a daily visualization ritual and practice it until you achieve your goal in real life. This is a powerful practice that can break your plateau quickly.

The main thing to remember is to keep going and not give up. Keep practicing. Remember the old saying "perfect practice makes perfect" and persist until you get it right. Sometimes the breakthrough comes when we least expect it and surprise ourselves. Plan to celebrate and enjoy the moment you break through your plateau.

Don't be surprised when you hit the next plateau. You can expect to reach another one sooner or later. Perhaps you can use your plateaus as natural rest stops. By being disciplined and focused you can move from one plateau to the next. You may need to be a bit creative and willing to experiment to move from one plateau to the next. This is often how athletes break records. Above all, act with integrity. Achieving your goals is not about winning at all costs, it is about becoming the best you can be.

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Kevin Sinclair is the publisher and editor of My-Personal-Growth.com, a site that provides information and articles for self improvement and personal growth and development.