Self-Improvement Never Ends: Sustaining Long-Term Change

Improving yourself is one thing, but what happens when you feel as though the uphill battle has finally come to an end? Do you stop?

Unfortunately, or fortunately (depending on how you see it), you can’t. There is no end.

Whatever twisted, strange or otherwise terrible parts of yourself you’ve tried so hard to undo are still there waiting for you, it all depends on what you do.

Don’t get me wrong, not every negative trait or thought pattern is still going to be there, lingering in the background, nor are they going to be as hard to keep away as they were to remove. But, there is always a worse version of you waiting to come back to life.

So, the question isn’t whether or not to stop, the question is, what do you do now to sustain what you’ve done for the long term and to ensure that version never sees the light of day again?

Here are a few things to keep in mind to do exactly that.

Aligning Momentum

One thing that happens as a consequence of continual and consistent progress is momentum. Momentum is when motivation, drive and results are high, and continuing to put in the work feels almost effortless.

Think of pushing a car that has broken down. At the beginning, it's extremely hard, you're pushing with everything you've got, but the car is barely moving. As you keep pushing, though, it moves faster and faster until eventually it's rolling pretty easily with a lot less effort involved.

Momentum within a real-life pursuit is almost the exact same: hard at first, easier and more rewarding later. But a very common problem people have is when that momentum breaks down, the car stops, and you have to once again go through all that effort to get the car going again.

Losing momentum does more than just slow you down and cause more effort, it also risks causing a chain reaction of low motivation, a lack of progress and a sense of frustration that can easily lead to giving up altogether. This is why avoiding the loss of your momentum should be a priority. But how do you do it?

Well, completely avoiding it is almost impossible, life makes it extremely difficult to keep momentum alive permanently, and so learning how to navigate the loss and re-gaining of momentum is also important.

But, there is still something you can do. Think of the car, what's most likely to cause that car to lose its momentum? Bumps in the road, right?

So your job is to use the saved effort and time created by the momentum and put it into road maintenance. In other words, do everything you can to clear the road of obstacles before the car runs into them.

If you're trying to keep your fat-loss momentum, this would look like removing all snacks from the cupboard to avoid any future late-night craving binges, for example.

Just simply think in advance and make the road ahead as smooth as you can.

Aligning Environment

Another possible hindrance to you sustaining change is an environment that doesn't align with who you're trying to be.

To stick with the same example, removing all snacks from the house does more than just reduce the chance of slipping up, it also aligns your environment. You don't need snacks in the house because that's no longer who you are.

The same can be said with choosing carefully who you spend your time with, if your friends make it difficult for you to be the person you're trying to be, it might be time you look for new friends.

Or your work, if the work you do drains you or stresses you out every day, but you're trying to become happier and more at peace, it might be time to start searching for a new job.

Aligning your environment can mean anything, as long as it conforms with what you're trying to sustain. Because an environment that conflicts is a battle that can easily lead to regression.

Keep Climbing

After a long time undoing and improving parts of yourself to finally become someone you're happy with, it's very easy to slip into a state of complacency because you feel like you've won, you've finally upgraded and can start enjoying your time. This is especially true if you've come from quite a dark mental state.

And of course, by all means, enjoy life if the work you've put in has actually allowed you to. But that winning feeling can easily make you forget all the work that led to the change in the first place, and as we've addressed, there's always a worse version of you waiting to come back. Sometimes all that takes is a period of complacency and laziness, and all the old ways worm themselves back in.

So, to stop this, it's important that you keep climbing. At the start, you were probably getting fuel from the stack of negatives you were trying to undo within yourself, but once successful, you'll have to get your fuel from somewhere else.

Instead of getting pushed by negatives, you want to get pulled by positives. This is extremely important when it comes to sustaining your improvement. Although negative fuel is potent, it tends to burn very quickly.

Without a mountain to climb, it's very easy to feel lost, to feel unmotivated, a lack of drive, a lack of purpose. In other words, you need a goal. You need to keep striving.

Don't think that just because of how much you've changed, your work is done. It's now almost your duty to put that improved version of yourself into action. If you're no longer useless, you're useful, so go and put yourself to use.

Just like the lesser version of us, there's also a better version waiting, it's up to you to decide which one becomes reality.

So, if sustaining your change is something you're interested in, you'll want to keep your momentum, align your environment and avoid becoming complacent. Should be easy enough, right?