Get used to boredom. Get used to hard. That’s the price you have to pay to reach mastery.

When someone trains with weights for the first time, they experience the novice effect, which is rapid improvement in strength and body composition. But after six months, if they’re actually training hard, training gets hard. And boring. And now diet and sleep make a difference. People can either adjust, or quit. Most seek novelty. In strength training, people start looking for new routines or programs, but the answer is simple: consistently add more weight to the bar. But that’s boring and hard.

Most people don’t reach mastery in jiu-jitsu because they get bored or they feel like their progression has stalled, and so they move on to something else. It’s not just jiu-jitsu. It’s the way with most things. Whether it’s staying mediocre at basketball, golf, or bowling, the struggle against boredom is what keeps the mediocre hobbyist mediocre, or worse, it makes them quit.

But it’s actually OK to stay mediocre sometimes. The point is to enjoy yourself. Plenty of people suck at golf, but they never stop, and it’s because they just enjoy the golfing.

If you’re no longer having fun, then find another place to train.

Training jiu-jitsu will get boring at times. But that’s part of the process. You have to figure out how to stay engaged.

“Ugh, this collar choke setup again?”

What keeps me going is I have fun connecting with my friends. The mat is my third place. I’ve known students, past and present, who take a “lone wolf” approach, and it’s pretty clear it’s the wrong approach. They’ve all quit at white or blue belt. Make friends.

Going from 0 to 1 is easy. But 1-to-2 or 2-to-3 can be hard for most. But assuming 5 is black belt, know that getting to 3 (purple) means you’re almost guaranteed to make it.