It’s the journey we should focus on — not the Befores and Afters
At the beginning of 2021, I started a journey. I’d say it was a journey back to myself – you know, back to the way I was before, but the truth is that we change daily. There’s no going back. So, it was a journey to a new me. I wanted to feel good. I wanted more energy, a better mood, and to lose the weight I put on during those long pandemic months. But, it’s never that easily divided into just befores and afters.
I’d formed bad habits that, honestly, I didn’t even identify with – it wasn’t me. It wasn’t who I wanted to be. It was a very stressed out version of me.
If you really wanted, I could tell you how many pounds I’ve lost in the last 2 years or how much my sleep, mood, health, relationships (everything) improved… but instead, I’ll say this:
We tend to think in Before and Afters — (and not just when it comes to weight loss!) Like those who are all about a wedding, but don’t fully consider the marriage. Or become obsessed with a new house or job or degree, and once they get it… don’t know what happens next. (I can’t tell you how many doctors or lawyers I know who don’t practice anymore.) The examples are endless.
The thing is that Real “Afters” are not just a moment in time. Afters are not singular. And they don’t end. Sustained Afters require giving up things from your Before and consistently sticking to the new habits that got you across the initial “finish line.” If you really think the After will magically stick around, you’re in for a surprise.
You have to decide what things from your Before can stay and what has to go. You have to evolve as a person to maintain the After you wanted in the first place.
This is why I work with clients to realize that who they want to be (their reason for hiring me in the first place) will require some identity shifts. And if they’re open to really doing the work, the tools they learn to stay consistent will last a lifetime.
Sometimes you might find yourself in old familiar territory from Before and it’s in those moments that you have to decide how you’ll react. Like you did Before? Or After? And in those moments, Voxer Coaching is also available. So you don’t stray too far.
Because it is a journey to a new self. Not a journey backwards.
