Hi ,

Have you ever felt like your career just stopped moving?

Not because you don’t care. Not because you aren’t working hard. But because, despite all the effort, the energy, the experience, you’ve hit a wall. And nothing seems to get you through it.

Welcome to the Career Plateau

That frustrating, often disorienting stretch of a career where growth flattens, excitement fades, and you’re left wondering, “Is this it?”

The answer is no, well, at least if you don’t want it to be.

Plateaus aren’t the end. In fact, handled right, they can become the most powerful launching pad for your next great leap.

The Pain of the Plateau

Let’s name it, being stuck feels awful. You’re not climbing. You’re not learning. You’re not even sure what you’re aiming for anymore. And because so many people tie their identity to their work (especially if you’ve discovered your Sparketype and finally felt like you were on the right track), the sting cuts deeper.

It often starts subtly. You’re doing the work, hitting the milestones, keeping up appearances. But something feels off. Not dramatic, just dull. Not burnout, but a kind of slow-drip underwhelm. The sense that you’re moving, but not growing. Achieving, but not connecting. That quiet dissonance between external success and internal fulfillment. It’s more common than most people admit and it takes a real toll over time.

Three Hidden Reasons We Get Stuck

1. Expertise turned into autopilot

For many of us, getting really good at something can feel like a big part of the reward. You’ve built the skills, earned the trust, and things finally feel confident, smooth. But over time, that smoothness can slip into sameness. The steep learning curve that once energized you flattens out, and the spark begins to fade. What once felt like passion starts to feel like routine. When growth leaves the building, we often want to go with it.

2. The ladder isn’t leaning on the right wall

Sometimes, we get stuck not because we haven’t succeeded, but because we’ve succeeded at the wrong thing. We’ve followed a path laid out by others’ expectations or early assumptions, only to realize years in – this isn’t what I actually want. Sure, it was aligned with an area of potential skill and even financial reward, but it never truly lit us up. Never SPARKED us. And now we tell ourselves the confining story that we’re too far up to climb back down without fear of loss or judgment.

3. The reward cycle broke

Early in our careers, every win feels energizing. Any sign of external progress has a certain elation to it. But over time, if the internal feeling of being truly lit up by purpose, and deeply connected to what you’re doing doesn’t build alongside the external rewards, motivation, energy and excitement starts to falter. The check clears, the title shines, but inside, you are slowly dying.

From Stuck to Sparked: How to Reignite Momentum

Here’s the shift: plateaus aren’t just pauses. They’re invitations. A plateau often shows up when you’ve outgrown your current role, rhythm, or reward system. It’s not a failure, it’s feedback.

Here are three ways to move through it, instead of staying stuck in it:

1. Redefine growth

We tend to think of growth as vertical, promotions, pay bumps, prestige. But real growth is dimensional. It can look like lateral moves, skill deepening, or even reimagining your current role through a new lens of purpose, realigning it with your Sparketypes. Start by asking: What part of this still energizes me? What would it look like to do more of that, differently or better?

2. Audit your aliveness

Go back to your Sparketype Profile. What kinds of tasks, processes, projects and experiences drive your sense of meaning and excitement in work? Have you drifted too far from those sources? Revisit your Sparketype and do a quick work-week audit. Where are you Sparked? Where are you drained? Shift accordingly.

3. Build “small bet” experiments

Instead of blowing everything up, run Sparked micro-experiments. Pick one new challenge or curiosity that lets you center your Primary and/or Shadow Sparketype to explore, whether it’s mentoring someone, joining a cross-functional team, pitching a new idea, or carving out 10% of your time to explore something that excites you. Momentum often returns when novelty and risk meet purpose and possibility.

TL;DR – Key Takeaways

• Career plateaus are common and normal. They’re not signs of failure, but invitations to reassess and realign.
• Expertise can quietly shift into autopilot. Notice when ease and familiarity start to dull your sense of challenge and engagement.
• Growth isn’t always up. Sometimes it’s deeper, wider, or more creative.
• Your Sparketype holds clues. Reconnect with what truly drives you and see where your current work misaligns.
• Start small. Run experiments to rediscover what excites you without blowing up your whole career.

There’s nothing wrong with you for feeling stuck.

But there might be something ready to evolve.

And the good news is, you don’t have to wait for permission to take the next step.

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