The truth is….it’s very unlikely that our biggest goals will be accomplished in a week, 6 months, and perhaps not even a year.
I’ve got to get something off my chest this week and it’s an issue that's been bugging me for awhile.
THE NEED FOR INSTANT GRATIFICATION....
These days we live in a 24/7 culture where it’s totally normal to order a whole new wardrobe online in 3 clicks or less and have it arrive on our doorstep on the same day, watch entire seasons of our favorite TV shows at once, order and track our Ubers down to the exact minute of pick up and have a massage therapist come into our homes within 60 minutes of the thought entering our mind.
And it's all fabulous!
BUT THIS MENTALITY DOESN’T WORK FOR OUR LONG TERM GOALS.
The truth is….it’s very unlikely that our biggest goals will be accomplished in a week, 6 months, and perhaps not even in a year. Big things take time and unlike so many other things in our society, instant gratification isn’t going to cut the mustard on our dreams and ambitions.
I see too many women give up before they’ve even started because their lifelong dream hasn’t been realized in the 6 weeks they choose to focus on it. And worse yet, they deem this as a failure, which in turn kills their confidence and self-wroth.
This is the most common challenge I coach on and one of the biggest habits we need to break.
Patience is a virtue and the secret ingredient to accomplishing anything worthwhile. We all know what happened to Veruca Salt when she got tired of waiting…for goodness sake, don’t be like Veruca!
This week, consider these 4 tips to help you start breaking the habit:
1. Set realistic expectations- Those fabulous Facebook and Instagram stars who claim to have the perfect body whilst eating whatever they want or those with an overnight rags to riches story never show you want it took behind the scenes to get there…before you set any goal, do your research and set realistic expectations. Talk to REAL people who have done something similar, get their insight and advice and go from there.
2. Get off social media- Comparison will kill your motivation. It’s too easy to forget that there is very little regulation on social media. These highly edited success stories and pictures of working on a beach in Bali may just be marketing ploy or if they truly are successful, never share the “un-glamorous” parts of their journey, (and besides, have you ever tried working on a laptop in the sun? It doesn’t work, you can never see the screen)!
3. Set small, intermediate goals, review each week and reflect on small wins- As they say, little by little, a little becomes a lot. When we set big goals for ourselves, we can often get so overwhelmed between where we are now and where we need to get to that we self sabotage and procrastinate. Setting smaller goals helps us keep up the momentum and get the job done with less drama.
4. Give yourself a break- Above all, be kind to yourself. Rome wasn’t built in a day. Anything worth having takes time, effort and faith.
You are not a Netflix series or an overnight Amazon package. Give yourself time and remember, the best things in life are worth waiting for.