I go through months when I can't wait to get home to my pole to practice. Then , I go through months when I have to drag my butt to the pole and force myself to do SOMETHING on it. It happens. I find i lose motivation most when it is cold/dry and the pole is slippy, or when my skills have plateau and I feel as though I'm not getting any better.
I try to tell me myself that even if I'm not learning any new tricks or practicing the ones I want to due to slippy pole, any time on the pole is improvement. It might not be visually noticeable now, but over the course of weeks or months, the time on the pole even just dancing around with tricks I already know will make a difference becuase it becomes second nature and fluid. It's the difference between someone who just knows the tricks and someone who can string the moves togetehr seamlessly..
Also, I found that there are many new tricks to learn, even when you have plateaued in strength and flexibilty. Pole is not a linear sport. Only a silly instuctor will tell you that everyone MUST learn al the tricks and progress in a particular order. Some moves that may seem more advanced may actually be easy for you, while some moves that are considered "easy" may not come for months. For example, I got my crossed ankle release, butterfly, gemini and scorpio LONG before I got my inverted V (chopper). So don't get discouraged.
Lastly, there is something called the "10000 hr theory" which claims that it takes 10000 hours of practice to be an expert at something. I figure that for pole this includes: actual pole time just dancing or practicing tricks, watching videos (reserach), stretching for flexibilty, cardio for indurance, strength training, all the little moments where you are stringing together moves in your head for later use. When I feel discourage I just remember the 10000 hr theory and try to do something, anything pole related.
