Each and every morning I walk into my favorite Starbucks and get my drink. Most days when arriving, by the time I get to the counter the drink is made and handed to me while paying for it. This is a great result to have when you are a coffee person like me. But you say, “Tim I’m sure you’re like a RockStar in your world, so they treat you that way.”
My home coffee shop has changed many times over the past 13 years of making the morning visit to get a specially-made drink to start my day. My drink has changed many times over those years as well. I can tell you that more than 100 baristas have made a drink for me. I am a regular; I was not always a regular.
The current coffee shop I go to now has Doug as a manager; he has built an over-the-counter friendship with me. I’m not all that special; he is this way with all of his customers. That is the Starbucks way, but if you visit small hometown or other coffee shops you don’t get that fast service. You sit at a table and place your order with a server and it takes 5 to 10 minutes for them to have your drink crafted.
I want to use this story to show you how our theme of change that matters is not an instant thing. The first time I went into Doug’s store I was not a regular, I had to wait in line to get my drink, I had to explain the way I liked it. When sitting at one of those cafes, you do not get it as fast; it’s not an instant drink like we get in the fast paced set-up of a Starbucks.
Well if you are making changes the results in life are not instant; change takes time to get results. It seems we have become this instant world; we want to have it in an instant. Well like the specialty café we need to create a better quality product of our life. If you want to change you health you must make long term changes that will yield long-term results.
Last month I got started with my own 90-day challenge in the Visalus system. It was not just a challenge to “take this instant shake and you will be healthy, take this magic pill and you will lose weight.” Well for me it’s not a lose-weight thing; it’s about building healthy long-term life habits. Getting involved with Visalus was about using a system that changed my life to my own challenge. I was introduced to it by one of my mentors in life, Craig Duswalt, who got involved in his own challenge.
Gwynne works with people in Weight Watchers, helping them with their system to change lives and become healthy. Losing weight is part of their goals. It’s a new lifestyle and just attending a meeting a few times does not bring about that goal you want. It’s over a length of time.
I used the idea of getting healthy and preparing for long-term change this month many times. Changing my health habits is just as important for long term as those who are losing weight. I am about to start a new long-term life with Gwynne as we are getting married this summer. Marriage is a long-term thing; it’s not just a one day event we invite all our friends to, and it’s about planning a life together.
So if you made changes in your life this year, but are not seeing results you want, you must look at the long-term. When you look at the year as a whole, the changes made in the beginning of the year may not show the results till late in the year.
Over time, building the relationship with those people who serve me coffee everyday gets them to know me; over time the process is not a lengthy process to getting from my bike to getting my coffee. If you are patient you will see that building your relationships or building your world over time it will get better, it will get faster if you are building it to last. So keep working on those changes the results are coming if you continue each day doing the work.
I’m Tim Gillette the Rocker Life Coach; it’s time to live your dream, to love what you do and those you share life with. Make your changes long term and never give up; soon you will be the RockStar in your world.
