Is your goal to reduce stress right now? Or is it to live a less stressful life? This is the question that many fail to answer when trying to improve their health habits or lifestyle. It’s almost always a choice between the here and now, and long-term health. Those of you who know me and the message that I promote also know that I rarely focus on the short-term. There are others that do, and frankly, there may be times in your life where that’s needed. But my approach is about life-long change. Dropping weight fast is easy. Keeping it off is another story. Avoiding unhealthy foods is easy for a day. Living a life of better eating requires a different approach, and I can have a stress-free day tomorrow if I wanted, simply by doing nothing and watching movies all day. But living a life of lower stress and worry is different. It requires a different approach. It is for those reasons that I want to call your attention to the last word in our Act, Improve, Wait Approach. Waiting is the hard part because we’ve become accustomed to getting what we want now, and we’ve been promised that instant gratification in a number of areas. But, living healthier is an infinite game. That’s why consistent, sustainable actions are important. And that’s why patience is important. We exercise patience through waiting. If you’re taking action to improve, as I said in the last segment, you are improving even if you don’t necessarily see it. Continue to wait…patiently, until you can see or feel the results and the progress that has been taking place all along.
What Improvement Looks Like in Stress Management