Change is Hard

I’ve got to be honest… Over the past few weeks, I’ve fallen back into some bad habits. I had been on a nice streak of doing certain things that would, if I had stuck with them, help bring some positive changes to my life. I’d done well at not eating sugary treats, then started baking again—and taste testing uncontrollably. I was stretching daily, then abruptly stopped. And now my hip flexors and calves are protesting. I was writing for an hour without distractions, and now I find myself ‘checking facts’ and ‘verifying information’…and tumbling headfirst down the internet rabbit hole. Change is hard.

And, at times, frustrating.

But that doesn’t mean you give up, especially if you truly believe in your dreams and where you want to go.

Why Change is Hard

Our habits are, for all intents and purposes, hardwired into our brain. That’s why change is hard. We become comfortable and the change we’re trying to implement makes us feel uncomfortable. And because we like what’s familiar, we’re caught in what Dr. Joe Dispenza calls the ‘river of change.’ It’s there, in that void between the old and new self, where we’re most uncomfortable. Instead of trying to push through the change, we slip back into our old ways of being.¹

Yes, I was caught in that void.

Tracking my progress each day, I noted when I completed a task that I’d committed to do. And it was great to watch the checkmarks add up, the streak of days turning into weeks. Unlike at the beginning of 2023 when I completed several tasks for 100 solid days, this time around I barely lasted thirty. Yes, I wanted to change, and still do, but then—BAM! I fell off the wagon. Then I felt defeated and left with little to no motivation. I moved back into that familiar zone.

The Sugar Dilemma

Over the past few years, I’ve been mindful of my sugar intake. My father, and both of my grandmothers, were diabetics. Remembering how they managed, or didn’t, their diabetes motivates me to watch my sugar intake. But as someone who loves to bake, it’s sometimes hard.

And after about six solid weeks of not having any sugary treats, I regressed about a month ago. I came home from work one day to find a new cookbook on the counter: Sugar by Anna Olson. For four days I didn’t touch the cookbook, didn’t even move it from off the counter. Then on a day off I picked it up and leafed through it. And then, inspired, I made the mistake of making one of the cake recipes.

By the third piece of the blueberry buckle cake, I remembered why I don’t have sweet things in the house. Because I’m not good at moderation.

Try, Try Again

I am trying again. Reducing sugary treats is not about depriving myself. It’s about doing the hard things now for my health so that everything is easier later.

Yes, change is hard but worth the pay off. And your future self with thank you.

1. Dispenza, J. (2014). You Are the Placebo: Making Your Mind Matter, Hay House, Inc., New York, p. 64–65. [↩]