"Mastery: The mastery curve. There's really no way around it. Learning any new skill requires brief spurts of progress followed by a short decline to a plateau slightly higher, in most cases, than the plateau that proceeded it. In the real learning experience, progress is less regular. The upward spurts vary, the plateaus have their own dips and rises along the way but the general progression is almost always the same. To take the master's journey you have to practice diligently and hone your skills to obtain new levels of competence, but in doing so, and this is the inabsorbable fact of the journey, you have to be willing to spend most of time on a plateau and keep practicing even though you seem to be getting no where."
--from the book "Mastery: The Keys to Success and Long-Term Fulfillment" by George Leonard