What is the key to long term behavior change?  How do we achieve and sustain the goals that we set?  This morning, I had a particularly difficult run.  My previous run had not been easy either.  My legs were tight, my energy was low – it was just not happening for me.  I didn’t quit and go home but I didn’t  “grit my teeth, suck it up and push through it” either.  So I just stopped running and began to walk.  “I let myself off the hook”.  Every once in a while, I would jog to the nearest stop sign or driveway or mailbox.  It was not a good run but it was where I was today.  At the end, when I was taking my last short jog, my legs suddenly loosened up and I ran home unencumbered and feeling good.  Reflecting on that run and the difficult one the day before, I realized why the runs had ended so much better than they had begun.

 

 So, what is the key to long term behavior change?  How do we achieve and sustain the goals that we set?  Two words:  patience and persistence.  I had been patient with myself and with my lousy “performance” yet I had been persistent enough to ultimately reap some rewards. 

 

Whether on the road to achieving our goals, or focused on maintaining them, we will have setbacks and challenges.  We will have lapses.  However, when we allow ourselves to “fall out of line” or to “miss a workout” or “eat more than we planned”, we are not failing. We are being patient.  When we dust ourselves off, refocus and proceed as planned, we have not “won” the game, but we are demonstrating persistence. 

 

Today I met with two clients who each shared stories very much like my own.  One had missed a workout, “forgiven herself” and proceeded to workout as planned the rest of the week.  Another had “indulged” by sleeping in particularly late one Saturday morning and not making it to the gym.  Rather than thinking they had not lived up to the promises they made to themselves, both of these clients reported feeling a true sense of balance. They focused much more on their successes of the week than on their minor detour.

 

We are not robots.  Wellness is not about a strict diet and exercise plan, void of deviations.  Wellness is about balance.  By being patient with ourselves,  we allow ourselves to be human. When we persist, despite the slip up, let down, or planned lapse, we demonstrate respect for ourselves, for our mission, and ultimately for our wellness vision.  Be well.