That stretch where nothing seems to move isn't stagnation. It's compounding, working in a room you're not allowed to watch.

The thought behind it

It names a feeling you have carried for years without vocabulary. Naming does not dissolve it, but it makes it addressable. It belongs to The Long Game because it prices patience honestly, without pretending the wait is pleasant. “compounding” is doing the work: it is where the line stops describing you and starts asking something.