How To Pass The Level Wey Your Progress Don Stop, After Plenty Months Of Practice

Na five months now, and you still dey put in the hours. You no miss am plenty, you still dey open the work for the days wey you talk say you go do am, and by any fair judgment, you don do wetin the plan ask from you. That one na the hard part, and e don pass you already. Plenty people no even reach five months for anything.

And the work still dey look like how e be for month three.

Na this point be where plenty determined people go quietly dey think say na their ceiling be that. E no be so. When your level stop to move, e rarely mean say your talent don finish. Na load problem. The practice don too comfortable, and comfortable practice go keep your skill fine well well, but e no go push am forward. The solution no be more hours of the same thing. Na to change wetin the hours dey ask from you, you change one thing at a time so you go fit see which change do the work.

Why my level no dey rise even though I dey practice every day?

Na because you don sabi the level of work wey you dey do now well well, so e stop to challenge you. Skill dey improve when the practice dey ask you to do something wey you no fit still do well, but after some months of doing the same thing, plenty practice go quietly stop to ask for that kain thing.

The place wey you go clearly see this thing na for gym, where the load na number. If you dey do ten push ups every day, your body go adjust to that ten and stop, and no matter how you dey consistent, nothing go change until the demand itself change. Coaches call the solution "progressive overload," and na the same idea whether the load na weight, speed, how complex the work be, or how correct you need to do am.

The research dey point the same direction, just from another angle. When one big study (meta-analysis) combine every area where dem don measure deliberate practice, the people wey write am conclude say practice dey important, but e no important reach how people dey talk am, meaning say hours alone no dey decide the result. The hours na still the price wey you go pay to enter. But wetin the hours dey ask from you, na that part you fit still change today.

So make you see the plateau as feedback, no be as final judgment. Your practice dey work exactly as e suppose work. Na the design wey need change, and everything wey dey come next go dey ask for more, no be less than wetin you dey do now.

Wetin I suppose change first?

Change one thing, no be five, and pick the one wey dey make the current work hardest for you sef. The five common ones na: how hard e be, the pace, how big the target be, restriction, and wetin you dey pay attention to. If you change plenty things at once, na guarantee say when something move, you no go know wetin cause am.

• Make am harder. Go for the next level: heavier, faster, longer, more complex. The smallest change wey you fit actually feel na the right one.
• Slow down the pace. E no fit make sense at first, but e dey often be the fastest solution. Slow down well well till e clean well, then build back the speed small small. If you practice speed on top messy work, na the messy work go stick permanently.
• Make the target smaller. Stop to practice the whole thing, and just practice the small part wey dey scatter. Plenty plateau na just three bad seconds wey dey hide inside two good minutes.
• Add restriction. One try only. No notes. Half the time. Restriction go force you to find another solution, and na exactly that different solution wey dey missing when your level stop to move.
• Change wetin you dey watch. Same repetition, but different thing to focus on: your breathing, your timing, the sound instead of your hands.

Give the new version wey you change im own name for your notes, and treat am as new exercise. You no dey do the old thing harder. You dey do a different thing, and e deserve to get im own line.

Give am fair trial before you cross am out. Almost every one of these things go feel worse for the first week, because you just remove the version wey you sabi well well and replace am with one wey you never sabi. That drop na sign say the change dey work, no be say e don fail, and if you confuse the two, na why people dey cycle through five solutions in one month and no keep even one.

How I go fit get useful outside eye on my work?

Ask one person wey sabi pass you for one specific fix, no be general feedback. If your request no clear, you go get answer wey no clear, and the person wey you ask go just dey encourage you instead of helping you well well.

The request wey dey work get three parts: wetin you dey try do, wetin you think say dey go wrong, and the one specific thing wey you want make dem check. Like this: bar nine here, my hand dey tense when I dey shift, tell me wetin my wrist dey do. That one go cost dem ninety seconds and e go give you direction for one month. Sometimes you go get better answer from person wey pass you by two years than person wey pass you by twenty years, because that first person still remember the fix well well.

If you no get anybody, pay for one hour. One paid hour with good teacher, wey focus on one single question wey you don write down before, dey worth more than one month of guessing, and e go cost you less than wetin plenty people dey spend on gear. Send the question early so the hour go start with the answer, instead of dem just reach the answer for minute fifty.

Who I suppose give specific note?

Somebody wey dey about one year behind you, and do am this month, no be someday. To give correct note na the same skill as to receive one, e go cost you like twenty minutes, and na the fastest way to find out if you truly understand the solution wey you don dey give yourself.

Na so e dey work, I go talk am plain, no be to make am sweet. When you dey watch another person dey try, and you dey try name exactly wetin need to change, you go need change feeling become instruction. Na that change go show you which part of your own technique you fit explain, and which part you don just dey manage without explaining. The sentence wey you go dey stammer for as you dey explain na hole for your own understanding, and for person wey level don stop to move, na information wey you no fit buy for any other place.

Do am the way wey you go want make dem do am for you. One specific thing, wey you name am clear, with another thing wey dem fit try instead. Then talk wetin dem do well by name, loud loud, in front of somebody wey their opinion matter to them, because correct public praise go cost you just one sentence, but e go land on them like promotion. Dem go get shortcut wey you take long time earn. You go get honest map of your own gap. Both of dem real, and none of dem need to wait until you don reach anywhere.

How long I suppose hold the new version before I judge am?

Three weeks, or like twenty sessions, before you decide if the change work. Skill dey adjust slower pass motivation, and if you judge new version after four days, na that be why people go dey cycle through five solutions in one month and conclude say none of them work.

This na the calm part of the method, and na the demanding part too. To wait here no be patience instead of progress, na wetin dey let you tell signal from noise, and e go stop you from re-deciding your whole approach every night. Write down the date wey you start the new version, and the date wey dey three weeks ahead. No open that question again till that time reach.

When your level stop to move, na load problem

Nobody wey truly sabi anything reach there without months wey nothing visible dey happen. The difference between people wey come out the other side and people wey stop, e rarely be talent and e rarely be hours. One group take that flat period as information and change the load. The other group take am as final judgment.

So make am harder. Hold am for three weeks. Get one specific note, and give one too. You never reach your ceiling. You just reach the top of the current version of the exercise, and there dey always another version wey dey come next.

Where We Get Am

• Cleveland Clinic, Simple Guide Wey Go Teach You Progressive Overload Training
• ACSM's Health & Fitness Journal, Ten Ways Wey You Fit Use The Progressive Overload Principle
• PubMed, Deliberate Practice And Performance For Music, Games, Sports, Education, And Professions: One Meta-Analysis