A good look at the quick fix mentality

There are no quick fixes. If we want our lives to change, we have to do the work. - Scott Stabile."In the soil of a quick fix is the seed of a new

problem." - Wayne Muller

We live in an age of haste and a world of convenience. You can find ready-made food five minutes from almost anywhere, and you can order a package of nearly anything and have it within the next day or two. We can have appointments with our doctors through an app on our phones. It's also easier today to make money and create opportunities.

While all of these things are beneficial, there is one way they are collectively not. And that is that they create an expectation for things to be instant and picture-perfect. Instant outcomes, instant progress, instant glow-ups, or grow-ups. Instant gratification, instant results.

The quick-fix mentality lacks resilience.

The quick-fix mentality has caused us to lose patience. Consequently, we have also lost our ability to be resilient when things aren't instant. We all go through things that we must work through by rite of living. However, when we look at how we talk, think, and even the level of defeat we feel from setbacks, they can mostly be linked to an expectation for things to be instant. Look at how many times a day you say or think I quit. How many times a day do you quit? Observe the amount of time you complain instead of putting your energy into re-adjusting to the situation or circumstances.

This is not to make you feel bad, but if there is one thing we all know, it's that things change, plans change, and people adjust. Your best bet is to adjust as well. I understood it best a couple of months ago. I was out in the Washington mountains. Watching trees and admiring how strong and rooted they were. Then I noticed that the trees were never still out here, with the rain and the wind. They were constantly being blown this way and that. Doused and hit with rain. The only difference between us and the trees is that the trees moved with rain and wind as they came.

As strong and rooted as they are, it's not in their nature to be unmoving through everything, and it's not in yours either. Trying to withstand change without change is like attempting to move through land and water the same way; it will not work. Next time the wind and rain come, remember that true resilience is the ability to change with the changes.

Tips for creating lasting change

1.) When adjusting, ask, "Is this an investment?" When looking at behavior/ habit change, we have to ask, let investment rule. "If I do or use blank to fix this situation, Will I have to do or use blank to fix my fix?" "Does this educate or teach me skills?" Look at each fix as a seed. Will this have a chance or foundation to grow?

2.) The second important question is, "Is this sustainable?" Sometimes we get into the quick fix mentality because we are trying to carry and juggle too much too fast. So when trying to create lasting change, adding anything new or taking away anything old. Look at it in terms of what it will do for or to your foundation. "Will this make my mental health stronger or weaker?" "Does it support my current sleep schedule or not."

Ps: This is not to say that the wind and rain have never knocked down trees. Or that they didn't have a reason to fall. This is to say that they do not fall with every gust of wind or drop of rain. I am not speaking about the loss, the heartbreak, the nasty accident, or those life-changing events. I'm talking about the lost sunglasses, the closed restaurant, the broken hair tie, the bad grades, and the mess the dogs made. In these cases, move with the wind and adjust to the rain.