Have you ever wondered why changing some of your behaviors is easy and changing others is so difficult? One of the primary reasons may be due to “lag time,” the time it takes between taking action and experiencing the result of that action.

Psychological research has shown the best time to “reinforce” a new behavior is right after the behavior occurs. Yet most of the changes we would like to implement in our lives take time to create. In fact, activities such as earning a college degree, raising a child, or fulfilling your life’s purpose can take years.

Since obtaining reinforcement often takes more time than we are willing to spend, we often give up on the new behavior before the full effects have a chance to take hold. One of the primary sources of frustration occurs when we want instant gratification and life simply doesn’t cooperate.

If you would like to avoid being trapped by life’s lag time, here are three suggestions.

1. Let go of the idea that change will take place instantly. In most cases, whatever distresses you in life took a fair amount of time to get that way. Obstetricians routinely tell women it will take nine months to totally lose the weight from their pregnancy. It takes 3 years to totally return to the state the mother was in prior to the pregnancy. Consequently, it often takes an equal, if not greater, amount of time to remove the source of your distress.
2. A major obstacle in dealing with lag time is focusing on the goal rather than the process. Imagine you are driving from Los Angeles to New York. If you only focus on how quickly you can get to New York, the time on the road will be both an inconvenience and a frustration. In contrast, if you focus on the process of making the most of each part of your drive, the drive itself becomes as fulfilling as reaching your destination. Thus, focus on making the most of each moment rather than focusing exclusively on how quickly you can arrive at your goal or destination.
3. Recognize small changes over time lead to huge results. For example, eating an extra sandwich a day doesn’t seem like much. Yet, if you maintain this behavior for a year without changing your exercise or other eating habits, you will gain 52 pounds.

Small, incremental changes over time, whether positive or negative, can produce extraordinary differences in your life.