The Law of Process
Published: Thu, 10/09/08
It illustrates a profound success principle I've heard before but this time it really hit me.
It starts with a story and it relates to health in a big way.
I'll get to that in a minute, but first the story...
A certain woman passes by an orchard of unusual trees. The trees are beautiful, full of lush, shiny leaves and juicy, succulent fruit. Right then she decides she wants one of the trees and approaches the orchard owner about it.
The owner sells her some seeds, assuring her that if she plants one, she will have a tree of her own to enjoy.
The woman goes home and surveys her land. She clears the area where she wants the tree, plants the seed, and waters it lovingly.
The next morning, she gets up excitedly and rushes to the spot where she planted the seed. But to her surprise and disappointment...
No tree.
She thinks to herself: "Maybe I just need to reason with the tree as to why it needs to grow faster."
The following morning, she tries pleading with the tree to grow faster.
No tree.
Then, she tries cursing the ground in hopes that will make it grow faster.
No tree.
Finally, disgusted that no tree has materialized after all her weeks of faithful care, she raises her foot to stomp the plot of ground where the seed is planted...
...and then she sees it.
The ground has broken and just the tiniest green shoot is peaking out of it. The beginnings of a tree.
So what does this have to do with weight loss?
Sometimes you do the right things concerning your health, but the weight isn't dropping off as fast as you want it.
You're frustrated because you want the excess weight gone yesterday.
I know the feeling. For years, I was like the woman, practicing good health habits for a while but getting frustrated because I wanted to drop 20 pounds in a week. I used to fall for quick weight loss schemes all the time to speed up the process until I finally learned the truth:
Every goal has a growth process embed inside. You only frustrate yourself when you try to rush it and take shortcuts. Instead, the wisest thing to do is to faithfully support that growth process through consistent action.
In that growing process, your faith is cultivated. Holding on to the vision of your ultimate harvest, you trust that in the fullness of time, you will receive your reward. You relax and stay faithful, leaving the timing of the results up to God.
You also learn how to use signposts like better health and energy, vitality, clearer skin, sharper thinking and other benefits to keep your motivation strong as you see your weight loss results manifest.
It's all here.
Kimberly Floyd, C.W.C.
#1 Provider of Christian weight loss coaching and resources
P.S. Another key point of the law of process is to focus on short term goals. Let's say you have to lose 50 pounds. Start out by focusing on what you need to do to lose the first 2 pounds. Many people discourage themselves because all they see is how far they have to go. So they don't even start. But if you focus on those first 2 pounds or 2 inches, then that is easy to do. You create a small success to build on and increase your confidence. With that positive foundation, you can focus on the next 2 pounds/inches.
You'll learn other ways to reach your weight loss goals more efficiently than ever before here:
Go for it!