A plateau isn’t proof you stopped improving. It’s often where the last progress settles in before the next jump.

Improvement is not smooth, and the flat stretches are part of the mechanism rather than a fault in it. Skills consolidate during the periods where nothing visible is changing: the new technique becomes automatic, the strength becomes usable, the knowledge stops needing to be dug up. Quitting on a plateau means paying for the work and leaving before delivery.

When you are stuck, hold your routine steady for another month before changing anything drastic. Measure something small and specific so you can see movement the mirror misses. Jumps often arrive just after people decide nothing is happening.