The Real Reason You’ve Hit a Ceiling in Your Growth
The path to success is like a roller coaster, sometimes you go high and sometimes you go low. There is something that’s even more terrifying than the dizzying heights and the confidence-shattering lows, and that’s hitting a plateau. When your engine is idling and you have to wait for the next move, your fuel runs out and it’s like suffering death by a thousand cuts. When you hit a ceiling in your work, your pent-up energy turns into nerves and ultimately frustration. Why does it feel like you’re running in place, running out of energy without any momentum? How do you rise out of the plateau so you can keep building and growing?
The hard truth we struggle to admit to ourselves hit me in the face when I experienced my own plateau. You might not want to hear it, but you need to. This realization took me off the ground and got me back on my feet, and maybe it can help you too. See, when we hit a ceiling in our skills, jobs or creativity the very first thing we do is blame the market or the world around us. “It’s tough out there”, “people don’t like me”, “it’s just a bad time for my profession.” We comfort ourselves by tying our woes to what must be happening to everyone else, and we entirely miss a very important question we should be asking. “What if it’s me?” What if you’re the reason you’ve hit the ceiling? What if you’re the only one standing in the way of your growth? What if your progress is entirely in your hands and you’re blaming it on to the wrong factors? What are the possible reasons you could be stuck?
You Have a Scarcity Mindset
When we put a lot of weight on what’s happening outside of our own realm of control, it’s easy to convince yourself that things are tough because they are tough everywhere. Obviously, there are times where things are truly tough for the vast majority, but sometimes we fall victim to our own scarcity mindset. We expect things not to go well for us, we expect an uphill climb and we tell ourselves that there are limited opportunities but all we’re doing is limiting ourselves from trying, pushing and learning.
You Have Limiting Beliefs
Limiting beliefs are different from a scarcity mindset. Based on our upbringings and views, we all have ideas and beliefs that we carry into our professional lives. For example, you might have grown up with the idea that salespeople are terrible liars who take advantage of people. You might have been taught that being creative means you’ll be a starving artist, or you might believe that being wealthy will turn you into a bad person. These might just sound like opinions but actually, these are beliefs that subconsciously inform our actions. If we think money will make us bad, we’ll build up a resistance to making it and that’s how we can hit a ceiling.
Ego is in the Way
When we think we know everything, we make learning impossible. Humility is a prerequisite for having the spirit of a student. They also call it the spirit of a white belt, or the mind of an amateur, as Dushka Zapata puts it. A white belt is wise enough to accept that learning and growing go hand-in-hand. In order to progress to our next level, we have to continue learning. This doesn’t mean get a Masters Degree, it just means reading books that improve your skills, listening to podcasts to stay up to date with changes in your industry, or trying an online course or two. The age we’re in is way too wealthy in information and self-improvement resources for you to just sit back and rest on your laurels. If you’re too arrogant to value being a student, you’ll be left in the dust.
You Need to Tweak Your Productivity
Sometimes routine can turn into a rut, and our boredom becomes the barrier between us and the next level we aim to get to. Productivity is a necessary aspect of progress and success, so it’s necessary to make sure you’re so dialed in that you’re producing your best work product. When you’ve hit a ceiling look back into things like whether you’re rested enough, working in the best environment or managing your schedule well enough. The clues will be there.
It’s human nature to blame our difficulties on external forces, but sometimes we need to look in the mirror and point the finger at ourselves. The smart thing to do is take responsibility for the actions and beliefs that have plateaued your growth. The most powerful thing you can do is take the path of self-improvement over the path of self-afflicted stagnancy. Ultimately, if the market is to blame you’ll be better for it!
