Do you like to measure progress? It is true that most people prefer quick results over a long game win. Is it normal to want to see concrete results of the efforts you put into your life and work change goals? Yes! When you invest time, money and sweat you want your reward – and now, right? Here is what those that know don’t tell you. Real, long-lasting success comes from tenacity, consistency, patience, and application of advice. Especially when it comes to a healthy lifestyle and/or career changes, there is a secret that not everyone knows. The real reward comes with time. Read on to see what the extended game plan wins.
Life and Career: Long Game vs Short Effect
It has been said that many today feel entitled to reward – fast. The digital era commands instant response, and when it isn’t the case, we tend to lash out. We close down the app, shout at the moon, and find someone to blame for lack of result.
As much as you can sympathize with the reaction, the reality is that our bodies are not digital (yet), and the international job market is complex. It not all about you and your wants, OK? Real results come when planning, effort, and application of methods come together – over time.
Long Game Wins – Lifestyle Change
“Any lifestyle change has to be meaningful and pleasurable. If it’s meaningful and pleasurable, people will do it. For these changes to be most effective, people have to want to continue them for the rest of their lives. “ Harvard Health
Get Fit Fast?
If you have decided to get fitter – your brain tells you to go for it hard, fast and now. Great! But if you do it too hard, too fast and too much – your body fights back. Basically – you will get stopped before you even start to get healthier.
The irony is that a slow, consistent approach leads to long-term fitness gain. You first need to learn the moves and methods. By setting small achievable goals, and then increasing the volume and adjusting intensity lead to real results. The secret of a healthy fitness regime is in the conscious inclusion of movement every day, at different times with varying pace.
Weight Loss – Diet Doom
“Working on one change at a time is slow, yes, but when you change too much at once, you’re much more likely to go back to old behaviors.” VeryWellFit.com
The diet approach is also one that many try with varying results. You are most likely going to lose a dress size or two – but anyone who’s tried dieting will also tell you how quick you gain again.
Lifestyle change when it comes to food is an overhaul of your entire body system. You need to change habits, which takes a minimum of 21 days/habit. You will run into trouble if you exclude an entire food group, or forget that your system needs the energy to function.
A healthy approach to your overall lifestyle will include eating more natural foods, adding lots of fruit and vegetables – and a balanced mix of carbohydrates and proteins. Get tips and recipes from books and enjoy learning. The long game works and promotes permanent weight loss. The kilos you lose are a happy side effect. The real win: You feel more energetic, and enable yourself to do so much more in life and at work.
Mindfully Stressed?
Stress triggers your fight-or-flight response in order to fight the stressor or run away from it. Typically, after the response occurs, your body should relax. Too much constant stress can have negative effects on your long-term health. HealthLine.com
Stress is a situation that triggers a particular biological response. When you perceive a threat or a major challenge, chemicals and hormones surge throughout your body. Sure some stress can be good, as adrenaline promotes productivity. Too much, however, is not great.
When stress attacks you from every angle, a weekend at a digital detox camp won’t change what chronic stress has done to your body and mind. Said weekend may give you an insight that you need to take steps to control what leads to stress.
A real journey into purposefully reducing stress will take a long time. This also leads to a good look at all that surrounds you. You may be able to identify stress triggers: at work, at home, close or distant family, health issues, etc. And – you guessed it – this can’t be done over a weekend. Dealing with stress and its effect takes effort, time and you won’t see the reward for quite a while. Really understanding your stressors, however, will pay off – and while it takes longer than you will want the effect will be life-changing.
Long Game Wins – Career Change
When looking at career changes the efforts you put into sending applications will in most cases lead to frustration. Waiting and patience take a lot out of you. This can be demoralizing and may shake your confidence. You may have spent hours on perfecting your CV and cover letter. And still – the results don’t come! The time factor will again play a role, as recruitment processes tend to take far longer than imagined. 
Career Change: Tenacity, Patience, and Methods
“You need a 3-month, 6-month, and 12-month plan, with specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timely goals, and someone in your court to hold you accountable. Get help, build a plan with milestones that you can measure, and get on the path to expanding yourself so that you are a true match with the great career you long for.” Huffington Post
Our word is full of very talented people who compete for a relatively small pool of jobs. Your CV may not be specific enough, or someone else may have experiences that are a better match.
How can you get away from the feeling of failure? Play the long game. Step back from yourself, and get help to identify how your specific skills and experience make you an attractive candidate.
Long Game – Career Plan
Make a realistic plan. Build in tenacity and patience to apply to jobs that match your skill set and years of professional experience. Polish, adjust and tailor your application as you go along. Talk to a career coach to see how you can stand out. And – listen to feedback.
International Jobs: How Career Coaching Makes a Difference
Knowing how to apply, and understanding how to adjust your job search strategy will allow you to change expectations too. It takes time to get responses. As tough as it is when looking for the right job for you – tenacity, application of advice and patience wins. Play the long game.
Change: Why The Long Game Wins
I get it. You want to see results. Now. The truth is far more complicated. ‘Now’ for you isn’t the same as ‘now’ for a presumptive employer; nor for your body that needs to get used to what you’ve suddenly started to through at it.
Many people run into problems when they try to change too much too fast. To improve your success, focus on one goal or change at a time. APA.org
Lifestyle means something. It implies something you do every day, consciously, and consistently. Only when applied over time can really change start to occur.
The same goes for connections, communication, and job applications. You work at it, you sow seeds, and over time reap the benefits. The long game works – its planned, focused, and consistent. If you decide to change getting some help can be a great way forward.
Life and Career Long Game: DIY or GSI?
DIY or Do It Yourself isn’t always the best method for success, right? Even IKEA offers delivery and assembly these days – so choose what you think works best for you and what may actually give you the result you’re after. If you consider yourself a DIY expert – go ahead! If you search the internet you will find lots of good tips, and can probably pick up quite a few tips, tools, and advice.
On the other hand, if you decide to GSI or Get Someone In you may get there faster. If you do have money to invest in a personal trainer, nutritionist or career coach your long game may actually become shorter. You gain results faster as you learn technique, get an outsider objective views and can refocus efforts.
When you embark on lifestyle or career change efforts you need to find your own way to a good flow – something that makes you tick. Inspiration and motivation need to be present at the core – and a plan over time enables you to measure progress. Promises don’t deliver – Actions do.
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