On November 1st 2017, I was rated 1239 and I registered in Codeforces Round #431 (Div. 2). Being able to solve just one problem, my rating fell to 1233.
Getting closer to my first gray-colored handle, I had a real fear from joining contests anymore.. I don't want to become "Newbie".. never!
On December 2019, and after 2 years of disappointment, I knew about (Div. 3) contests. I really was happy and decided I should come back and give it a try..
Despite being able to solve only 2 problems, the 3rd was hacked and I got the idea of 4 problems.. this really increased my confidence. However, my rate only increased by 22 points.. still slow, but I felt like "seems fine.. but not enough encouraging". Now, after my first (Div. 4) contest after around 5 months of inactivity, my rating jumps by 72!
I am really grateful, and this is really encouraging.. thanks MikeMirzayanov, and tanks for testers! I decided I will never give up.
Have my advice, don't put your rating in mind. Just enter contests targeting to become better. Entering many contests will afterwards improve your rating. I have been a newbie for about two years and I started ignoring the rating and I became specialist.
You're right.. I just was talking about motivation and encouragement factor due to ranking increments. But generally, I agree with you.. one shouldn't be driven by rating only.
after around 5 months of inactivity, my rating jumps by 72I don't want to disappoint you, but as you said, you were inactive for 5 months without practice. You jumped due to rating inflation(Division 4 and 3 are hugely inflated).
You can try to practice problems with difficulty between
1100~1400If you practice a lot, you can solve these problems fast, which is enough to push you up back to
specialist.Then you can practice harder problems.