Feeling the Plateau? Let's Talk About It
Hi All,
Shifting gears this week towards another topic that can transcend across all different aspects of our daily lives, "I hope this email finds you well", or however those scary email intros go. A lot of times, we find that they don't find us in a perfect state. When things get difficult, it is easy to start falling into the vicious cycle of going through the motions. Everyone reading can probably stop and think for a moment and find that there was/is some point in life in which we've just spun our wheels. As a former swimmer, I know it's easy to fall into this trap. Tools such as the "
Growth Mindset" and
visualization of our goals sometimes do not completely fill the gas tank with enough fuel to accelerate to new heights. That's okay, because today's post is all about learning how to break out of that rut - we'll be elaborating on breaking the ever-dreaded plateau.
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There's a variety of avenues to help break through plateaus. The aforementioned article pertains mostly to swimming and lists the following:
- Focus on little victories. They don't have to be monumental accomplishments. What did you do that day that was meaningful to your progress? How could you apply it to the next level? It's about building championship habits to be a championship athlete - or a stellar employee or student or volunteer, etc.
- Be REAL with yourself! It's a recipe for failure if you are not honest about your effort. Contrary to popular belief, A effort with B results may set you up better in the long term than B effort with A results. We're playing the long game. Build self-aware honesty from the get go and you create a much higher ceiling for yourself.
- Talk to a trusted coach/adult/peer. You don't have to do this alone. It takes a village, or something like that, right? Keep a circle you trust that can uplift you AND/OR keep you accountable for maintaining your best. Even coaches who yell do so with the intention of care. Find your rock.
- Set realistic goals. We all wanted to be astronauts, the president, or professional athletes. Not that those are unreachable, but those must be married to our current efforts and realistic stepping stones to get there. Rome wasn't built in a day; neither is your [swimming or occupational] career. Create a ladder with frequent rungs rather than try to climb one that only has every third rung remaining.
- Remember WHY. With swimming in particular, it's easy to lose the WHY (and sometimes the how... see: breaststroke). Revisit your reason. Jobs, sports, activities, they're all just different relationships we have. What relationship do you have with swimming - or your job - and why is it meaningful to you? Does it provide camaraderie, financial stability, or a chance to fulfill long-term success? No one decides what YOUR why is.
Fact of the week
: Plateaus, ruts, vicious cycles - they all are difficult circular time frames that keep us chasing our tails. The more time we spend in a flat circle, the less time we work into an upward trend. Use paper, write pros and cons. Trust in both yourself and your resources. If it's swimming-related, you have a wonderful staff here at Sigma that is willing to help your journey. If it's not, we'll still try our best. The fact of the matter is, rely on what you know, be willing to take risks, and trust yourself just as much as you trust your peers. No need to be your own worst enemy - let your effort do the talking. Stay tuned and check out
YouTube for more!
How does my child move up? Come to every swim class, bring your progress report, earn those stickers, and ask your child's instructor or location's deck manager if you have questions.
How do I move up? Attend as many of your classes as possible, communicate with your instructor on your struggles, goals, and where you're at in our curriculum. We also have many adults who purchase a gym membership to 24 Hour Fitness or LA Fitness while they are taking lessons so they can practice 2-3 times between classes.
Let's break barriers together! Glad your swimmer is learning to swim with us!
The Sigma Team
Other Sigma Swim School and Stroke School important links:
- BAND - Never miss a notification about your swim/stroke classes or other important and urgent information. Register and find your Sigma location.
- Equipment: All Groups
- Questions? Lessons@sigmaswimming.org (youth lessons); Adults@sigmaswimming.org (adult lessons); Swim@sigmaswimming.org (swim team and masters swimming)
