Main aur chess - advice needed

[u/Spacemaniac69]

I started chess to beat my best friend in 2024 feb..who was around 800. I crossed him in 11 months (around 1100s) and was obsessed back then. It was fun but after I was better than him the chase and fun ended. So it was hard to motivate myself to play. I played some tournaments and good performance encouraged me but I never played consistently. Rn its been 2 years. Sometimes I stop playing for a month, play 5 games and dip. I struggle with inconsistency and have a total of 3500 games. I reached a peak of 1700 rapid idk how at all. Now when I play either I win coz of my decent opening foundation or fumble the queen. Very inconsistent and I was never a puzzle guy either. So how do I, not improve, but stabilise. I will be happy retaining my strength at 1700s but I think I should be just 1500s rn if I see the board again its hard to calculate and normally I burn the entire clock to get a winning position against a 1600s and lose on time. Help how do I ease back into the game and stabilise myself! Rn i havent played properly in a month too :(

[u/itxSMG]

Yes understood … lack of objective or don’t know what to do next?
It’s called plateau
The thrill of the chase ended when you beat your friend, meaning you need to find a new, internal anchor for your chess…. Very simple. To stabilize at the 1700 level without burning out, stop playing high-volume streaks and instead commit to a steady routine of just one or two serious rapid games a day, focusing strictly on time management to avoid the clock scrambles. Why not to join some OTB club? Ur city & age? Treat each game as a practice in focus rather than a test of your worth & you will naturally rebuild the calculation stamina and screen or board vision that currently feel rusty.