Level Completed: You Are Not Stuck!

The stuck feeling can be louder than any failure because it shows up after you’ve already been doing the work. The scale stops moving, the results at work go quiet, your routine feels flat, and suddenly you start questioning everything, including yourself. We’ve been there, and we’re naming the real problem: you’re not broken, you’re just bumping into the edge of an old level.

Jorge Medina unpacks why the early “why” feels like magic, why that honeymoon phase inevitably ends, and how stress can quietly throw your pillars out of balance even when your motivation is still strong. Then we flip the script with a simple reframe: what if “plateau” doesn’t mean stuck, it means accomplished? Like a video game, life unlocks the next level when you beat the current one, and level two demands new strategy, new inputs, and a stronger identity.

We also go deeper into the psychology of comfort zones and why “stuck” often becomes code for “comfortable.” If you want level-two results with level-one effort, frustration is guaranteed. The good news is you can use that frustration as fuel with a practical two-step assignment: declare “level completed,” then shock the system with one micro challenge that disrupts your routine just enough to wake your mind up.

If this message hits, subscribe to the podcast, share it with someone who’s on a plateau, and leave a review so more people can find the mindset shift they need. What’s one area of your life where you’re ready to level up?

Transcript

A Rut Is A Hidden Grave

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Welcome back to the Power of Your Wide Podcast. I'm your host, George Medina, and I am so incredibly grateful to have you back in this space with me today. Before we dive in today's episode, I want you to sit with a powerful thought from the great personal growth pioneer Earl Nightingale. He once said, the only thing wrong with a rut is that it's just a grave with the ends kicked out. Look at it this way: a rut is a comfort zone that has outlived its usefulness. Let that sink in for a second. If you tuned into episode one, you know we laid down the ultimate foundation. We talked about finding a why that makes you cry. We talked about tapping into that raw, deep, emotional purpose that pulls you out of the bed when the rest of the world is still sleeping. And let's be honest, when you first tap into that why, it feels like magic, doesn't it? Think back to those first few months. You were unstoppable. Everything was fresh. Everything was exciting. You were riding on this massive wave of motivation where everything seemed to be working in your favor. When an obstacle popped up, boom, you smashed right through it. The walls felt thin because your why was so fresh, so vivid, and so powerful that nothing could stand in your way. You were doing the work, and the universe was delivering the results. But then the shift happens.

When The Why Feels Like Magic

SPEAKER_00 2:04

You know exactly what shift I'm talking about. It's that moment where the honeymoon phase ends. Your mind, your body, and your heart are still going through the motions. You're doing the same exact things that got you here, but suddenly the scale stops moving. The weight isn't dropping. Or maybe it's at your job or in your personal life. You're putting in the hours, you are trying to grow, but the results silence. Nothing is showing up the way you want it to. And you hit a wall. A heavy, frustrating wall that gives you that suffocating, heavy feeling. The feeling of being stuck. For me, last year on my journey, it was it was easy. I'm not gonna lie. It felt easy. Even though I was putting in the hard work, I was learning new things about losing weight. It just felt easy. Why? Because everything was going my way. I mean, I found my wine that made me cry. It pushed me, it kept me going, it still gets me going today. But the difference between last year and this year is for the last three months or even four months, I've been stuck on a plateau. It's like I'm doing the same things I did last year, but it ain't working. It ain't shifting anything. My Y's still alive. I'm still crying when I speak it. But the number on the scale and other things are just stuck. And this year everything seems harder. My mom was in bad health. Things at work got a little harder. Things in my life got a little stressful, but I was still locked in on my foundational why of playing basketball with my son. And that kept one pillar really strong. My activity. Because I've been walking steps, steps upon steps. I'm going for five million this year, and even though I've been going through those stresses and I've been stuck, my foundation of walking has still been there. It's just the other pillars that have been affected, like my eating and my drinking of water, and just having that out of whack, because in the past I've been wired to when things aren't going the way you want it to, to stress eat, and then when things aren't in that same routine and it throws you out of whack, it becomes more stressful. But that walking has kept me there, but the number on the scale has not shifted. I've been between 216 and 221 for the last four months. And I just have this feeling like I put in all this effort, why isn't the scale moving? Why do I have the stuck feeling? And sitting there in that exact moment of frustration, it finally hit me. The universe wasn't punishing me, it was graduating me. And that's when I realized when we hit that wall, our natural instinct

The Plateau And The Stuck Feeling

SPEAKER_00 5:58

is to start interrogating ourselves. We look at our lives and we ask, why am I stuck? Or how do I get over that plateau? We treat it like a disease. We treat it like failure. We start scrolling through social media looking for a new routine, a new diet, a new productivity hack, thinking we broke the machine. We think we lost our spark. But what if I told you that you aren't broken? What if I told you that everything is working exactly the way it's supposed to? I want you to challenge the language you are using right now. What if the word for what you are experiencing isn't stuck? What if the word isn't plateau? What if the real word is accomplished? What if the phrase is level completed? Think about it like a video game. If you didn't get stuck on level one, you beat level one, and because you beat it, the game didn't just let you stroll through the empty field, it unlocked level two. And level two is harder. The enemies are stronger. The puzzles require more thought. Most of us view our lives like one continuous, never-ending sentence. One long, flat chapter. One single massive level in a video game. But that is a lie. The journey of life is a book of many chapters. It is a game of many levels. If you are feeling that stuck sensation today, it doesn't mean that you are failing. It means you aren't being challenged by the old routine anymore. You outgrew it. You conquered it. And because you conquered it, it's time to set up a new challenge. Now let's get real for a second. Let's go a little deeper in the psychology of this. If being stuck actually means we accomplished the last level, why does it feel so bad? Why are we resisting the next level? Because your mindset doesn't want to move. The brutal reality is this. In our minds, stuck has actually become a code word for comfortable. Look back at how our journey started. Why did you look for your why in the first place? It's because you were deeply, utterly uncomfortable with where you were. You were sick and tired of your own excuses. The discomfort drove you to fight, to sweat, to cry, and to climb. But now you've had a few months, maybe a year of success, you lose some weight, you got a little recognition, you made some progress, and suddenly you built a new, slightly nicer cage. You got comfortable. And we carry this childlike mentality into our adult lives. We think, man, I've accomplished so much. I worked so hard to get to this point. I shouldn't have to fight hard anymore. The results should just keep coming to me because I'm a hard worker. We want the rewards of level two using the effort of level one. But life doesn't work that way. Hard work in the past does not buy you a free pass in the present. Think of it this way. I used to play Super Mario Bros. I said, oh, I could beat

Reframing Stuck As Level Two

SPEAKER_00 10:40

this game without dying, just using one life. But I didn't go through every single level. I warped and skipped levels. You see, we can't think that way. We have to face this head on. We can't warp through our journeys to easier spots. We gotta go through the hard stuff to challenge ourselves to get to the place we want to get to. There's no warp zones in life. If there was, none of this would be worth it. The universe doesn't care what you did yesterday. It cares about what you are willing to evolve into today. So if you're listening to this in your car or at the gym, or while you're walking the dog, I want you to take a deep breath. It's time for a mirror moment. The real question you need to ask yourself today isn't why am I stuck? The real question is, why am I afraid to keep growing? Why are you afraid to change up the strategy? Why are you afraid to look back into the depths of your soul and reevaluate your why? Why are you resisting the evolution required of you? We aren't stuck, my friends. We are just too stubborn to keep growing. We are stubborn because growth requires pain. Hard work, not just hard work, harder work. It requires letting go of the identity that got us here. So we can adopt the identity that takes us there. The version of you that lost the first 10, 20, 30, 40 pounds is not the version of you that can lose the next 20. The version of you that got the promotion at your job is not the version of you that can lead the company. You have to dig deeper. You have to find out what you are truly made of when the initial hype and motivation have completely evaporated. Anyone can run when the wind is at their back. But who are you when the wind shifts and blows right into your face? Because I love you too much to leave you where you are, I'm not just leaving you with a feel-good message today. I'm leaving you with a practical assignment. If you want to get past the stuck feeling, you have to break the old blueprint. I want you to do two things today. Step one, declare level completed. Write down the thing you

The Fear Behind Comfort

SPEAKER_00 13:58

are frustrated with right now. Is it your weight, your career, your routine? Write it down. Cross it out, and next to it, right, level completed. Own the fact that you survived and conquered the old phase. Step two, shock the system. To get past the plateau, you have to change the input to change the output. You need to introduce one micro challenge this week that disrupts your comfort. If you've been running, change your route or add sprints. If your diet stalled, shake up that routine. If you are bored at work, ask for a responsibility that scares you. Do one thing this week that makes your heart race a little bit. The friction is exactly what wakes up your mind and tells it, we aren't playing level one anymore. Your why isn't dead. It's just demanding more of you. It's asking you to graduate. Do your homework this week. Stop complaining about the plateau. Stop staring at the scale, your bank account, or that corporate brick wall with resentment. Look at the barrier, smile, and say, level completed. Thank that phase of your life for what it taught you. And realize that the comfort zone you are clinging to is way too small for the giant living inside of you. Listen to me. Hear me clearly. You did not come this far just to come this far. You did not survive the valleys of your past, the late nights, the tears, and the sacrifices just to settle on a mediocre plateau in your present. The flat line you are feeling right now isn't your final destination. It is the launching pad for your next massive breakthrough. It's time to light the fire again. It's time to change the strategy. Step up the intensity and recommit to the greatness that you know belongs to you. Wake up your mind. Shake up your routine. Demand more from yourself today than you ever did yesterday. You are capable of things you haven't even whispered to yourself yet. So turn the page. Start the

Two-Step Homework And Share The Torch

SPEAKER_00 17:00

next chapter. Pull up your boots. Because level 2 is waiting for you. And you are more than equipped to conquer it. Thank you for plugging into the power of your Y podcast. If this episode set a spark in your soul today, pass the torch. Share it with someone who is feeling stuck right now. And let them know it's time to level up. Let's change the narrative together. Until next time, my friends, stop being stubborn. Do the homework. Step into your absolute power. And go. Let's go get it.