Whenever you start doing something new, you can easily see your progress. But once you reach a certain skill level, you plateau. Your growth appears to slow down and you feel like you’re stagnating.
This can be said about applying for a paid corporate board position. When you’re just starting out, you are driven everyday to search and apply for positions. There is an excitement in applying for something new. But after a few months, if success has not come as quickly as expected, you’re not sure how to make progress anymore. It feels like you’re not improving or making headway on your ambitions.
How do you overcome this frustrating situation?
Time for a Change of Strategy
When you think you have plateaued, it’s the universe telling you that it’s time for a change of strategy. What has worked until now to spur growth isn’t working anymore. To put it in a positive way, you’ve become too good at what you’re doing.
In order to grow, we have to steadily meet appropriate challenges. Right now, the challenges aren’t challenging enough. It means you need to do something new.
Maybe it’s time to launch products in a new category. Maybe you’ve done all you can with your current audience and it’s time to branch out. Look into some new market channels or add a new strategy to your mix.
Look for a Change
Perhaps there’s been some change that has occurred without you realizing it. Look at demographics, sales or traffic over the last year. See if something has happened that has caused your goals to stagnate. What could you do to overcome this?
The reason for your plateau may not be something you’re doing. It is possible something may have changed in the world or market that’s impeding your growth. What change can you make in order to adapt to what’s going on?
Track Your Progress
You may be growing but just not seeing it. It’s easy to see how you’re learning when you just start out, but harder as you get better at it. Go back and look at the milestones you’ve achieved. Write these down somewhere and track your progress so you can remind yourself how far you’ve come.
Ditch the Echo Chamber
Sometimes plateauing is just a matter of perception. You may be surrounded by people who pat you on the back and encourage you, but what you need is some stern criticism and productive feedback. Identify people who are at the next level where you want to be and spend some time around them.
Adopt the Growth Mindset
You can best prevent or deal with plateauing if you adopt the growth mindset. This is a set of beliefs that sees humans as dynamic beings that evolve and develop over time, not as being static or fixed. It helps you overcome the limiting beliefs that hold you back.
Which strategy are you going to use to push yourself over the plateau? Give it some thought and share if you see fit.
