Everyone has experienced or is experiencing something like this:
When you start to lose weight, the effects are quite obvious at first. However, as you continue to lose weight, you may find that for a period of time, your weight remains within a very small range, and sometimes even slightly rebounds;
Learning a skill is similar – you progress quickly at the beginning but then reach a point where it feels like you can’t improve any further;
When saving money, it becomes difficult to increase the amount once you reach a specific number;
Even in developing relationships, doing a job… similar phenomena exist.
The plateau period, also known as the bottleneck period, refers to a state where what we do in certain situations reaches a certain level and then stagnates, making it difficult to break through.
How should we understand this phenomenon? What exactly determines it?
From a psychological perspective:
1. Related to habits
Humans are creatures of habit.
Once a habit is formed, it becomes highly stable.
When we want to change the status quo, we inevitably need to break old behavior patterns.
This is undoubtedly a huge challenge and can make people feel uncomfortable and even in pain.
For example, when we learn a new skill, we inevitably have to sacrifice our usual leisure or entertainment time.
Initially, although it’s hard work, we may feel some excitement from the novelty and see significant progress;
However, as the novelty wears off, coupled with not receiving adequate positive feedback, we may experience a sense of fatigue and impatience from both body to mind, leading to a slow progression in the “plateau period.”
Solution:
Do things you are interested in as much as possible.
If lacking interest, try to cultivate it as much as possible.
Give yourself appropriate rewards and establish sufficient positive feedback.
2. Related to psychological drive
For anything we do, we need an internal driving force, also known as psychological drive or motivation.
Whether we can accomplish something and what level of achievement we can reach largely depends on having sufficient psychological drive.
For example, in a particular job, if we are just passing time or pleasing the boss, we may quickly reach a “plateau period.”
If we do the same job all our lives but do not find the meaning or sense of mission in it, we may end up stagnating for decades, wasting life.
Solution:
Find a sense of mission in life and establish clear goals based on it.
Do things related to your life goals.
Explore your deep-seated needs and connect them to your goals.
For people in the field of self-media, this “plateau period” should feel particularly poignant.
Most platforms require vertical writing, which can lead to a sense of being at a loss every now and then.
It is said that some years ago, this profession could bring substantial returns and reader interactions were enthusiastic, making it easier to receive feedback and motivation.
But now, in the self-media industry, especially in graphic and written content creation, the market is oversaturated, and there is serious internal competition. Sometimes it really feels like being in a dilemma without a way out.
Haha, it has to be said that this poses a high demand on authors.
Life is like rowing upstream, if you don’t advance, you retreat. Even when it gets tough, you have to grit your teeth and push forward.
Fortunately, the “plateau period,” while a test, also hones the mind. In life, one must hold firm beliefs and believe:
When mountains obstruct your way and rivers block your path, another village with bright flowers will soon appear.
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I am Dong Sanzi, continuously sharing cognitive improvement-related content.
Cognition changes lives.
