Listening to the first progression project podcast - discussing how the guest (chess/juijitsu champion) sees a plateau as a necessary accumulation phase, where you hone specific skills and skill combos to build up to pushing into your next break-through. I thought this was a positive spin and good motivation when the sugar-rush slows down and the progression feels like it stalls and the gear isn’t helping.
Another interesting thought from the Anders Ericsson interview - keep pushing yourself to progress until a point where you “like the look of your own foiling” **. This enables you to start creating and experimenting with style and tricks, rather than just following the beaten track. I thought this was an interesting idea. I never got to that point with kiting, climbing before losing interest, am still far off that on surfing (20+years later), but I really got to that point with skateboarding, and it made it that much more fulfilling and sustaining.
**the context was - when do you no longer need to push your kids to practice music or something, and the answer was along the lines of "once they like the sound of their own music, they will be motivated intrinsically, and not need the external push