May 6th 2017, Why do I Plateau?
After recording last week's podcast. A thought was stuck in my head. The thought was, what do you do after you hit your goal. The story about hitting my bench press goal really made me think, because once I hit my goal, I stopped. That was the end of it. Once I hit my goal I plateaued. The same can be said about my other endeavors, such as writing. After publishing my first book my writing stopped, I have three other books on the back burner yet I'm not putting in the right effort. Since I'm working a regular job I haven't been posting blog posts as much. So why is it that my growth stops whenever I obtain my goal? Let's find out.
As a child did you ever beat a game or finish a large puzzle never to touch it again? I know for a fact that I have done this numerous times. Back when I was in junior high-school, I used to compete in math tournaments. My goal was to become the district champion and after four years I was able to achieve it. I was also able to defend my title the following year. After becoming the district champion, I no longer had the same drive. When it came time for the city championship, I was no longer hungry for victory. I had become comfortable being a big fish in a small pond. Think about how great success feels and now think of how bad failure feels. Who in their right mind would want to feel terrible right after being on top of the world. Thinking back on my life thus far reveals other instances of me giving up after obtaining my goal. After winning a poetry contest in highschool, I never wrote another poem. Other than fear there is another bigger reason, I got comfortable
Think about it how many times do we refuse to do something just because it would make us feel uncomfortable. Do you know how many people I know who hate their job yet they will never look for another one. The reason why is because they are comfortable. They know how to coast through work by doing the bare minimum. The same can be said about me, especially in my younger years. I remember having a 90 average for my freshman year of high school yet by the time I graduated it had dropped to a 75. I achieved my goal of getting into a prestigious school, yet I decided that was all. I had become comfortable and that ended up costing me.
That's all in the past, let's talk about my recent achievement of publishing my first book. When I finally published it, I felt like I was on top of the world. So if I felt like this after finishing it why haven't I finished a second book? The real answer is because the work behind the book. I remember working 16hr shifts in order to finish it, that's not something I am able to do. I know that it's an excuse, and I need to get past the excuses. So in order to do that I contacted a few people and told them the topics of the three books on the back burner and now I clearly know which one to work on. I need to maximize my efforts and put my stranuous commute to good use. I want to have this book published before the end of the summer. This way I can work on having at least 3 books published in 2017.