“People seldom improve when they have no other model but themselves to copy after.”

– Oliver Goldsmith, writer

When I was a young boy, I loved to play tennis. Although very short in stature, I was very quick on my feet, and would often out-hustle, and out-last, my playing opponents. I was actually pretty good!

One day, I noticed that I was no longer doing so much running around and actually had opponents on the run, due to the well-placed shots I was able to hit.

I continued to play with the same people, and found myself winning almost every match. The downside of this was that my skills plateaued, or actually declined a bit, due to the lack of skilled opponents.

In today’s tennis world, I would simply be moved from a 3.5 level to a 4.0 level and my growth would likely begin again.

Exercise:

Where in your life have you reached the top ranks of performance and plateaued in your growth?

Where can you find others with superior skills and ability to help you stretch your limits and take your growth to the next level?