Decide today that you’re going to learn how to speak French, or play the piano, or learn how to do calligraphy. Determine that you have no time limit for this, that you are going to work at it for as long as it takes—two years, five years, ten years—and that you will continue with it steadily, a little at a time.
If you can’t work every day, that’s fine. As long as you make a commitment to something long term, you can turn to it when you have the time; even fifteen minutes or a half hour four days a week will add up to significant progress after a while.

Don’t evaluate your progress too often. Just take a few initial steps and periodically see how far you’ve gotten. A few minutes each day doesn’t appear to be much, but it works better than applying a lot of energy in a burst of enthusiasm and then not doing anything for six months.Instead, work consistently. Keep at it. Just when you think you’re wasting your time, spinning your wheels, chances are you’ll have a breakthrough. If you want to lose weight, commit yourself to new eating habits and stay with them, even if you see no major changes right away. Your body is laying the foundation for a new you. All you need to do is make the commitment. The rest will follow on its own.

Posted on Friday, January 2nd, 2009 at 7:33 am filed under Advice.