How often are you flying? this makes a big difference. I can only fly once every 2 weeks, its not enough at the circuit stage, as the first 30mins are wiped out getting re-familiar with the controls and inputs. I took a chance and added an additional lesson each week in... It blew my budget and wasn't sustainable. but I improved alot as I kept a feeling for the controls. I then cut that to a morning and afternoon flight every 2 weeks. (thats the mental limit I can take, and the max the Instructors would reccomend. its a necessary evil - normally they dont advise two sessions on the same day for circuits as its fatiging no matter the experience level)
another thing is the more we experience, the harder we are on ourselves. i made a landing yesterday that was garbage... but would have been great 10 hours ago.
its all competency, it was 12 months and 30 hours before I soloed