I will never be invited on The Biggest Loser. If you met me you might not say, “That guy is fat.” But there have been times in life when my weight has fluctuated in some less than healthy ways.

The biggest gain I ever had was going from 138 to 168. Thirty pounds might not seem like a lot, but getting 25% heavier isn’t great unless you’re also getting taller. Believe me, I thought about that. When I looked at the height/weight charts, I thought it would be great if I ate copious amounts of Gordo’s Queso & Chips and grew a few inches taller.

Weighing 168 is perfectly fine if you’re 6’4” but here’s the thing, that wasn’t my experience. I stayed 5’7” during this experience and added 30 pounds.

I ended up having a “fat pants” section of my closet. My regular pants started to look really short, and the top button of my jeans was under so much stomach pressure that, at any moment, it might have popped off with enough force to kill someone. I started wearing a ton of sweaters because I felt ashamed. When I wore tucked-in, button down shirts, you could tell I gained a lot of weight.

My weight issues are small in comparison with the very real struggle people have with obesity, but I did learn one lesson.

Do you know which diet worked for me? Do you know which one had real results?

The one I focused on for months.

Do you know which diets didn’t work?

The 15 different approaches I took when each one didn’t offer me the immediate results I wanted.

I’d jog for a few days and then quit. I’d download apps about push ups and exercise and then quit. I’d swear off certain foods and then quit. I’d stop eating after 7 p.m. and then quit.

And nothing happened.

When I focused on one approach though, things changed. When I made a commitment and focused on keeping it, things changed. When I didn’t give up and change course the first day or the 15th day or the 30th day, things changed.

Sometimes we have a hard time focusing on things. There are so many different ways to accomplish a goal. So many ways to write a book or record a song or start a business or do anything that really matters to us. And when we hit a roadblock with one approach, it’s tempting to look for another.

When you find yourself in that situation, and you will, wait.

Pause.

Don’t give up on what you’re working on.

Focus on the approach you’ve got, and give it room to show you long-term, real results, not just short term instant results. If your dream really matters to you, give it some breathing room. Allow it the chance to succeed and start small and pick up momentum. Don’t jump to a brand new approach just because the first one takes a minute or a month or a year to get rolling.

It’s amazing what can happen when you focus.

Question:
What’s the longest project you’ve ever worked on?