The Plateaus of Growth
When I had a conversation with one of my managers recently, he mentioned that career growth is like a wave. There will be both positive and negative cycles. That was relatable as a steady upward graph of growth is unheard of. It had always been one step forward and then two steps backwards for me.
I failed to understand one thing though -- that growth is not just about crest and trough. In between every subsequent crest and trough, there is a series of points in which we do not feel change is taking place at all. But change is there even though it is imperceptible. It is the plateau of growth.
For the majority of us, growth is measured in some kind of accomplishment or setbacks. But what if we are having neither of these? It would be impossible to measure the progress we have made. That is what makes most of us feel stuck. It is easy to get disheartened at this stage as we are not getting any immediate results for our goal-oriented actions.
I am going through such a phase now. Even though I seem to do everything in my control to get out of this stump, I feel stuck. There are no visible results for all my efforts. But on days when I am not hard on myself, I understand that this process is extremely slow and it will take years to see some measurable progress.
If you are somebody like me, having a structure to your day and noting down even small tasks as completed will give you a sense of motion. Remember that it is never a competition. If you are doing better than yesterday, it is progress, even if it doesn't feel like that way. My darkest days are the ones where I constantly compare myself to others. Then there is no light at the end of the journey. It is hard for the majority of us to avoid that cycle. We can only try.
But what do we do when we are beating ourselves up for not being where we are supposed to be? Eating ice cream and taking a walk helps me. Also, I have a pinned message on my work desk to remind myself to "Trust the process, you will be there". Just a set of cliche things to keep me motivated! BUT IT HELPS(ON SOME DAYS)!!!
