At the beginning of the year, you hear a lot of people talking about changing themselves. One of the big things that they set out to change is their body. For the first few months the gyms are packed full of ambitious individuals who want to get back down to their fighting weight. They’re tired of looking in the mirror and hating what they see, which is why they’re so determined to follow through this time around. This goal is admirable, but most of the time people end up failing. As the weeks pass by, you will see less and less people in those gyms. And the reason why they give up is because they don’t see any results.

They feel like they’ve been working their butt off, but they still don’t see any difference. The thing is that when it comes to weight loss, it takes time. And a lot of time, you may not be able to see a visible difference, but, truth be told, change is there. You may not have dropped a pants size yet, but your body is different than it was when you started out. Perhaps the scale might have the same number, but maybe you have extra muscle, and since muscle weighs more than fat, you won’t be able to see that you have less fat just by standing on a scale. It could also be that you have more energy. Because you’ve been working hard, you might discover that you can walk further before running out of breath. And you can walk up the steps in your office building when the elevator isn’t working and not get winded. Or maybe your skin looks better. Because you’re in the gym working out all of the time, sweating out all of those toxins, your skin is able to actually look healthier. It also might be possible that you’ve stopped craving the junk food that you once loved to eat. And even though the scale might not reflect your weight loss, your insides do and maybe you don’t need as much of the medication that you started using because of your unhealthy ways. These little change are happening in your body, but because you’re too busy focusing on that end goal, you fail to notice these equally important things.

This phenomenon can happen in all areas of your life. If you’re not trying to lose weight, you will definitely be able to think of an instance where this is applicable. Maybe, you’re so busy trying to pay off your debt that you can’t appreciate the fact that you’re actually able to find a way to afford your monthly payments. Or perhaps you’re so concerned with becoming the top person at your job that you haven’t noticed how important your daily contributions are to your work. Or you might be so obsessed with becoming a more confident and outgoing person that you haven’t even realized that two months ago you would have never gotten up in front of a room full of strangers to do karaoke.

Positive thinker, you need to take the time to appreciate the little accomplishments you make from day to day. You’re too hard on yourself and you have to give yourself more credit than you do. Not to mention, if you take the time to notice the little steps you’re taking, you can use these small victories as motivation to keep you pushing forward to reach your main goal. If you don’t recognize them then you might end up calling it quits like so many people do at the beginning of the year with their weight loss goals. However, when you notice that you’re more energetic, that you have more muscle, that your skin looks better, that you’ve stopped craving junk food, and that your insides are healthier you can use this to inspire you until you do lose the extra pounds that you set out to lose.

Don’t ever become discouraged when you don’t reach your goal as quickly as you wanted. These things take time, and if it’s really worth it to you then you won’t give up even if you don’t see the results that you wanted right away. When you search for these little victories you’ll realize that you’re on the right path and that you’re doing something right.

Don’t give up!

Your happy ending will come!