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This article is by Dr Jeanine Austin, expert author at ezinearticles .com
HAVE YOU HIT THE PLATEAU?
We’ve all been there! We’ve begun the process and we are making headway, and then we hit a plateau. It might be weight loss, a spiritual practice, a career endeavor or a home makeover. You feel
stuck and you do not want to regress back to how things were before, but you feel discouraged, and perhaps bored and uninspired. What should you do?
A plateau is a wonderful point from which to re-evaluate your initial plans, goals or commitments. Could you get excited about making some shifts that would breathe some life into your goals? Could you, for instance hire a personal trainer, add some new yummy foods to your healthy diet, take a trip, add new elements to your original career plan, hire a coach, ask for help, or read a new inspiring book?
It is important at this point in the change process to celebrate the progress that you have already made. From this vantage point, you can review that next leg of your journey, to evaluate if you are on a course that still resonates with you. If not, recreate your vision building on past successes. This is what happened to me with my career. First I pursued social work and worked with different populations (such as the elderly, children, the developmentally challenged, immigrants, the indigent, etc …) at different times to build my skill level. I become known for my play therapy with children and wrote and lectured about those techniques.
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HOW TO KEEP GROWING
Later, I earned my Ph.D. in coaching (building on my first two degrees in social work). I specialized in coaching with women, and then specialized further in work with metaphysically minded women around the world. Each step was a point to reevaluate and make educational and career development plans. Following your interests and looking for exciting ways to build foundations for your life expressions can be a creative challenge. However, when plateau happens, try to look for creative ways to move forward with passion
Sometimes, the plateau is here to help us. It is a time for integration, reflection and reevaluation. Trying to fight the plateau by racing forward may be counterproductive. Consider taking feeling stuck, unmotivated, and uninspired into your meditation and prayer practices. Ask the plateau what it is trying to tell you, listen carefully and acknowledge these insights. Take action if necessary. Carl Jung told us that the psyche is always trying to heal itself.
How is your plateau trying to heal and help you?