Mindset, Self Improvement

July 7, 2023

I was reading the book “Atomic Habits”, by James Clear and he brought up this concept called “The Plateau of Latent Potential” which really resonated with me.

It completely changed the way that I see and go about achieving the things that I want and I want to share it here.

The Plateau of Latent Potential is essentially the space between engaging in effort and seeing results.

You don’t actually see the results of the hard work you put in right away and this time period is known as the “Valley of Disappointment.”

This valley is where most people give up on their goals because of impatience and lack of discipline.

Think of all the people who started out this year with the intention of going to the gym and trying to get in shape. The people who relied on inspiration to go to the gym weren’t truly committed to their goals and slowly started to go back to their old ways.

They fell off into the valley of disappointment.

The people who made it through the valley and saw success took a completely different approach to going to the gym.

They treated the gym like a priority and they were fully committed were determined to follow their inner drive.

They didn’t give up even if they didn’t see results right away.

When we try to start good habits, we expect to see results right away. “Ive been going to the gym for two weeks now…why haven’t I lost weight?”

The truth is that you are making progress. Its just not noticeable yet.

Just the simple act of consciously telling yourself that you are going to go to the gym is making progress towards developing a good habit that will eventually get you to your dream physique.

Focusing on the goal will only lead you to be discouraged if you set your expectations too high. Instead you should focus on stacking small wins every day that that will eventually compound.

This is the mindset that I keep when i’m writing these blog posts. I know that Im not going to get many readers after posting this.

I know that my writing probably isn’t that good. Im not going to be successful in this overnight.

All I can do is make predictions of where Ill be in the future and those predictions are based on what actionable steps I’m taking today.

The actionable steps I can make are writing every week, reading, learning new words and writing strategies, and researching what works and what doesn’t.

If you want to get in shape, start going to the gym.

Watch fitness and nutrition videos. Read nutrition books.

Research what kind of exercise and diet aligns with your goals and focus on these things.

This mindset can be applied to anything you want it to.

Its important to know that it doesn’t matter what you do and how much you do it.

You wont see results right away, and that’s the truth.

What does matter is that you’re making good decisions and doing the things that align with your goals.

"Rome wasn't built in a day"- Some ancient guy

I always thought that this proverb was super cheesy, but after adapting this new mindset, it's actually very profound.

If you can push through the valley of disappointment through constant effort, and small wins every day, you’ll have your breakthrough moment where your hard work finally shows.

Thank you for reading, have a good rest of your week.

-Abraham