if you feel that you're not improving, i feel that means that either the way your are practicing is wrong or you need to progress on to something else.
learning the guitar is an endless journey...
you need to EVALUATE what you are practicing once in a while. best if done regularly, after a practice, gig, jam or whatever.
one example is like one of my greatest weaknesses was being SUPER-DEE-DUPER repetitive in my riffing and soloing. i can't shred either (actually i can shred a bit...), but the problem was my melody. although i had my rhythm and those pentatonic scales down, i solo, but hey, who never loses interest listening to the same shit all the time?
so i thought and i thought, and i was playing a scale at the same time also. then when i had accidentally slipped my finger out into the "danger zone", out of the box, it struck me...
i had to break out of it, and then i tear it up!!! MUAHAHAHAHA!!!!
my playing gets better now (although im still a rhythm guitarist in my band), and i break out of my normal patterns frequently. i still use pentatonics alot, but now, my new goal would be to master the pentatonics, breaking out of the monotonous flow and creating new sounds.
would love to tell you more, but i think you get the idea yeah? the main point is that you have to EVALUATE your practice. feel you need more kick in your soloing? let your technique do the talking. melodically challenged? start working on those damn scales haha. still in doubt? ask someone experienced. ask yourself or someone else frequently to guide you along. think of how you wanna do it. then when you know it, do it!
EVALUATE. i believe that would be the word for this thread.
good luck with your practice.
and cheers..
