Atomic Habits: Plateau of Latent Potential
Eventually Water Will Boil
I’ve never had a phrase for it besides hard work will pay off, but after reading the opening chapters of Atomic Habits, I’ll use Plateau of Latent Potential.
James Clear uses the analogy of ice turning to water but I’ve seen it more commonly as water boiling. If the water is 202 degrees fahrenheit nothing happens. If the water is 211 degrees, still nothing happens. Once the water hits and crosses the plateau of 212 degrees then change is noticeable and the water boils.
The same is true in the pursuit of a goal. If you want to be a better writer you have to write. Little by little the temperature is increasing but the change isn’t visible. The hours, the work, the words keep the temperature moving forward until, one day, you hit 212 degrees.
I deal with this a lot working out. I work and I work and 3 weeks in it’s hard to tell any difference. It’s frustrating as heck to put in the time and not see any results. But, I need to remember I’m slowly but surely raising the temperature.
Once the Plateau of Latent Potential is hit, most people will see you as an overnight success. It’s very difficult for outsiders to see the amount of effort that was put into building a business or writing a book. Only you know the amount of effort that went into becoming the person you want to be.
The potential is there but it must be earned. Even child prodigies have usually put in the time to achieve their success, they just started working before everyone else.
I like the Plateau of Latent Potential also because it has the word potential in it. You may be starting closer to your plateau than I and you may have a higher plateau potential. The level of success still depends on the amount of the latent potential, no rainbows and unicorns.
When I’m struggling toward a goal I have a new phrase for perspective. Change will come, seemingly all at once, after a lot of compounding hard work. I just have to be willing to keep going until I reach the plateau.
