In an era where instant gratification is EVERYWHERE, patience likely seems like a mirage for many of us.
Whether it’s promises to lose 50 pounds tomorrow or instantly feel less stressed, illusions of instant gratification are everywhere we look.
And I would argue that they are just that- illusions.
After all, did that crash diet really get you what you wanted?
Did turning to alcohol ‘just to take the edge off” really do that?
Have you taken the time to ask yourself the question, “what do I really want?”
If you haven’t now might be good time :))
The thing is, pretty much everything we really want, takes time. And likely, vastly more time than we’d like…
Here are a few of the things on Tiana’s list:
I want to snatch what I clean and jerk
I want to do a better job of expressing myself on social media
I want financial freedom (I don’t want to ever have to worry about money again and I want to be able to support my mom as she gets older)
And guess what?? Time goes dancing along regardless of whether we are working toward those things we want or not. So in my mind, the logical conclusion is, “I might as well be putting in effort if time is going to pass anyways!”
At any given point in time- I can ask myself whether or not I’m making progress- real progress- toward these goals. AND I can ask myself if I am allowing the time it takes OR if I am being impatient.
This is where collecting data becomes important.
For weightlifting- we have obvious metrics- are my lifts going up or down. Right now they don’t really seem to be going up- but that’s probably because I haven’t allowed the time it takes to heal a lifetime of injuries. So for now my goal is to focus on healing my hip and shoulder dysfunctions and to focus on improving technical aspects of the lifts. Basically, I’m putting increasing the absolute amount I’m lifting on the back burner- with the understanding that this foundational work will move me in that direction.
For social media- man. This is a tough one for me. I just feel like a flopping fish over here. I have this narrative that people don’t want long form content- that they just want short quick to understand ideas. So I’ve spent a couple years trying to fit myself into the Instagram box- largely unsuccessfully- I would argue. So I’ve decided to embrace all my words by posting more blogs on the website- until I can figure out how to condense myself down for IG. The metrics to track here are tricky because this is largely a subjective goal- like do I feel less anxious about what I’m posting? Do I feel like what I am sharing is in line with my core values? And is it valuable to people? This is the intersection I’m really interested in working toward.
For financial freedom. This is a complicated one. I have learned so much about my relationship to money this year. With student loans in forbearance (because COVID), I’ve had the opportunity to look at my finances a little differently. I have decided to prioritize saving money #budgetlife so that I can meet the aggressive monthly savings goals I have set for myself. I am determined to not worry about money the rest of my life- so if that means living on rice and protein powder for right now- so be it. I’m proud of myself for recognizing my priorities and making changes accordingly.
Thanks for being here! If this resonated with you, I’d love to hear from you! Feel free to comment here or reach out on IG @tiananicholetallant
xo
Tiana
