Have you ever talked with someone who speaks very highly of how hard they work or how much they have done, yet they do not seem to have the results that reflect the kind of effort that they are putting in? There are two issues that might be present there… they either are not putting in the effort that they say they are… or they are putting in the effort, but doing the wrong things.
This tends to be most obvious in health and wellness. People talk of the new way they are eating or the exercise program they are doing, but their body doesn’t change. I’ve seen people work so hard in the gym day in and day out, yet fail to lose weight, gain muscle, or change their body in any way. I’ve seen people do diet after diet, yet fail to achieve the body changes they desire. And I’ve seen people with health conditions do treatment after treatment, yet continue to struggle with the same issues.
So, here is my advice to you… no matter what you are doing, how hard you are working, or how much you have done… don’t forget to look at your results! If you are busting your butt, putting time, energy, and/or money into something, make sure you are achieving what you are trying to achieve.
This sounds so simple, but it is so easy to get caught up in the work itself, without noting if that work is pushing you in the right direction. You can drive a car faster and faster, and go further and further, but you’ll never get where you want to go if you’re headed in the wrong direction.
Have you ever seen an athlete get the ball and run the wrong way? They excitedly take off, exerting a ton of effort, yet go in the opposite direction that they need to. It’s so important to occasionally lift your head and look around to assess where you’re at, what direction you’re heading, and making sure that you are getting closer to your goal.
Our healthcare system has failed to lift its head and look around. It just continues to do things in a way that, despite all of the time, money, and energy it invests, fails to do the one thing it should be capable of doing… getting us well. We get excited about new drugs, surgical procedures, and advanced medical testing, all of which move us down a path of more diagnosis and more treatment, but what we long for and need is fewer sick people. We aren’t looking at the results of all those efforts.
And it’s not just health and wellness. It happens in finances, relationships, careers, and more. I’ve watched people invest loads of money into an idea or investment in an effort to make more money, yet see no gains. I hear people talk about how much they do for their spouse and how hard they work to improve that relationship, yet struggle to find the kind of intimacy and connection they desire. I’ve seen others get up each day and pour their blood, sweat, and tears into their work in an effort to advance their position, only to remain in the same position, making the same salary.
Any area of your life where you are making an effort, you need to make sure those efforts are getting you the results you want. If you are working hard at something, yet failing to get what or where you want, it is time to change what you are doing.
One of my all-time favorite quotes is from Winston Churchill… “However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results.” It might help to take a moment to look at the different areas of your life, think about what you want those areas to look like, review what you are doing to create that, and make sure the things you are doing are actually producing the results you want. After all, what are you doing all that work for anyway? Better results!
