Just for review- the definition of effort– a vigorous or determined attempt.
This month of March I have been talking about choosing a challenge, taking effort you are using in areas that are not benefitting you in any good way and diverting it to the challenge and looking forward to creating more energy both by doing the things you have to do to meet the challenge, but also by even engaging in working on the challenge in the first place. You determined where your efforts are being wasted and directing them toward things that will be productive for you.
If you have been along for the journey, you may already be seeing some benefits like:
Feeling proud of yourself.
Learning about yourself.
Better health or mindset.
More enjoyment in other unrelated areas of your life just because you are feeling good about yourself. And many more. What are you feeling right now?
If you have missed out on what this all means, go back to the last few March 2022 posts to get caught up!
People ask me, how long do I keep this effort up for? My answer is, it depends. It many take you a while to create momentum, but once you get into flow, you will know and you won’t have to work so hard to keep going with your new habit if this is something you want to keep doing.
If this was a short term challenge 2 week, 5 days, three months, whatever- you will effort until the challenge is over most likely.
In all cases, there will come a point where your effort will start to feel effortless. For years there have been many time frames bounced around, but you will be the first to know when you have reached that point.
Remember, choosing a challenge that has real meaning to it is what keeps you going. Even when you are putting a lot of effort toward it, you are able to keep going because you remind yourself of what doing this challenge and completing it will mean to you and your life.
Effortless is not the goal, but it will come with time and consistency. Keep moving forward. If you got off track, start again. If you haven’t started a challenge yet, today is the perfect day!
Before you leave this post today ask yourself a couple of coaching questions:
What is going well in my life right now? How am I celebrating it?