When we have goals — whether those are individual goals or relationship goals — we tend to want to see results now. As soon as I write my goals out, I’m looking around trying to see the results — and I know I’m not alone in this! We want to meal plan together, or go on more dates, or get better at giving each other gifts, or make sure we spend time talking together in the mornings…whatever goal you face together, once you establish it and agree to it, it feels like it should happen right away.
But that’s not true for any goal of any kind.
As Eric likes to say, “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.” If you just decide to eat an elephant, then look around wondering why it hasn’t already been eaten, you’re not making progress towards your goal at all.
Growing in your relationship takes time. It takes effort every day; it takes forgiveness when you have a day that doesn’t go so well. It’s putting one foot in front of the other without obsessing over how much longer the road goes on. If you can focus on the every day, each step, each bite, then one day you’ll look up and be surprised how very far you’ve come! But you can’t expect that to happen overnight.
Each day, ask yourself: What am I doing today to take small steps forward?
