"Now is a fleeting concept"

The difference between nothing and just a little more than nothing isn’t much on any given day. But over the long haul, it is.
— Laura Vanderkam

Laura Vanderkam, time management and productivity writer, ended her latest post on Substack with the line above. She was referring to both weight loss and the overall concept of sticking with something when progress is slow.

When we want to change anything, we tend to jump in with big goals and even bigger plans. It can be hard to maintain motivation when we don’t see results as big as our efforts, but time passes no matter what we’re doing.

Someone I know was considering a career change at age 45, but she needed to go back to school for two years to do that. She lamented that she’d be 47 by the time she finished, which bothered her. But then she realized she’d be 47 in two years either way, so she might as well reach 47 with the certification she wanted.

A similar concept works with slow progress. Laura Vanderkam added in her post, “Yes, progress [can be] slow and seems negligible now. But now is a fleeting concept. Eventually, time will move forward and if you just keep going, evidence of progress will eventually accumulate. Losing 1-2 pounds a month feels and looks like nothing in the moment, but months keep passing, and after a year it would be quite a bit. So picture yourself in a year. Eventually the year will pass.”

So maybe do the thing. Focus on the practices and habits that will get you where you want to go. In a year, we’ll all be one year older regardless. Might as well be closer to where we want to be.

xo,
Beth