The strongest push is the one aimed at the correct wall.

Enormous effort applied to the wrong point produces almost nothing, and it is easy to spend years that way, since the exertion feels like progress. Finding the right wall is a different activity from pushing, requiring stepping back, asking what is actually in the way, and being willing to discover that your main effort has been misplaced.

Before your next sustained push, ask what would have to change for the situation to improve. If the honest answer is not what you have been working on, that is worth the discomfort of admitting. Redirecting is cheaper than another year of the same.