We, as a society, have become obsessed with the idea of an overnight success story. 

We all want to get rich quick, to lose 5 pounds in 5 days, to expedite success.

And we tend to apply that same reasoning to our mental health and wellbeing – if we can’t make change happen FAST, then what’s the point?

But real, true transformation requires an actual rewiring of neural pathways in our brain – something that takes time. A lot of time. 

And as I have talked about this concept with thousands of clients over the years, I keep coming back to one metaphor…

Change is like braces. 

Yeah, those braces. The ones you get glued to your teeth as a young teenager, and then endure the pain of during an already treacherous phase of life!

Braces aren’t fun… But they’re not necessarily meant to be fun. They’re a means to an end. And eventually – after years of transformation – you’ve got beautiful pearly whites to show for all of that hardship!

So let’s think about change through this same lens.

Connect with your why

It might sound silly, but it’s important to acknowledge why transformation is important to you.

When you get braces, your why is very clear: you want your teeth to be straighter. 

What about when you’re thinking in terms of your mental health? Your habits? Your wellbeing? 

It’s just as if not more important to understand why you want to change. 

Maybe you want to improve the important relationships you have in your life, or get more intentional with your creative expression, or spend more time doing the things you love…When you know why you’re committing to transformation, it’s a lot easier to trust the process.

Alignment requires structure

If I were tasked with manually moving my teeth around, I’d give up almost instantly.  I’d be too uncomfortable! 

But braces create a structure that supports alignment.

That sounds like something most people want for their lives, right? Structure that will support transformation and alignment. I know that’s what I want for my life!

Suddenly when you think of it within that structure, it’s easier to discern the many ways – big and small – you can begin to restructure your life to better support your wellbeing.

Maybe it’s in the way you set up your work day or the way you structure your meetings… 

Maybe it’s the type of people you’re connecting with or the types of conversations you’re having regularly… 

Maybe it’s the kind of food you have around the house…

All of those small, incremental changes add up to keep me aligned with my purpose.

Exercise patience

Many of us know the feeling of being the kid with braces.

When you’re young, time moves so SLOW… So in the moment, it genuinely felt like you had those braces on forever. 

But now, looking back at your childhood, it probably feels like a blip on your radar! 

All this to say, change doesn’t happen overnight. It takes time and LOTS of patience. 

It requires you to trust the process. 

And down the line, instead of remembering how grueling and long the process of transformation was… You’ll remember the outcome.

Embrace the discomfort

Braces hurt! Maybe not as much as a root canal, or getting a gruesome cavity filled… But they create consistent discomfort.

In fact, when your braces STOP hurting, that means it’s time to tighten them!

But it is this purposeful discomfort that gets you to the end goal of dental excellence. 

Same goes for our wellbeing: growing is uncomfortable. 

Instead of shying away from the discomfort, how can you embrace it in service of something greater? 

Being able to embrace the discomfort makes way for rapid transformation. It gives you the space to come into full alignment with your deepest why. 

That is why we created the Stress Reset program – to create an environment where you can experience that growth process safely, and with a group of people just like you. Stress Reset is like braces for your wellbeing. And you don’t have to do it alone!