“…the gradual changes that are happening seem like the more permanent kind rather than a quick fix that's not going to last.”
It’s statements like this that keep me encouraged as a person. Too often, we only go after things which we can achieve right away. Most things which we can gain in the little amount of time we desire are not gained in the right way, and usually are only temporary results. We have become people expecting great things without earning them.
The opening is from an email I received last week from a client who is turning her life around by changing her daily habits. She began her journey with hopes of improving her fitness. On her way towards her goals, she is discovering many other psychological, emotional, and personal gifts that come directly from benefitting from a healthy lifestyle.
Working with her has been very exciting for me because she came with the expectation that her goals would not be achieved without commitment on her part. Everything I have asked for, she has done. Everything I have asked her not to do, she has tried not to do. (Most of the time).
What I have learned from her is we have to appreciate progress. One step does not get us to reach our final goal. We have to see and appreciate each step we take, smile about it, then work on taking the next one. If we want to make permanent changes, we constantly need to understand each little change we are making and how it positively or negatively affects us.
Quick-fixes are attractive: little or no effort, awesome results. However, when we don’t go through the process to get those results, we don’t understand what it takes to get there. And if we don’t know how to get there, we won’t know how to stay there.
