“Change is hard at first, messy in the middle and gorgeous at the end.” – Robin Sharma

Several weeks ago, I started a nutrition program to learn more about food, gain more vitality, lose a bit of weight and develop healthier eating habits. I have never done anything like this before. I have never been super health-conscious, nor have I ever been overweight or generally unhealthy. I have been normal. But with an ambitious person like me, normal is not enough.

And here I am on this health journey, week 7 out of 12. Every week since the beginning, we’ve been asked to remove some foods, some harder than others (How can I give up coffee??!!). It was hard, but I made it through. I’ve had beautiful changes to my body and psychology already. And now I am in the dangerous, messy middle. You say to yourself “Ok, yes it’s been great so far, I have seen results already, so maybe I don’t need to continue with this hard commitment, I can just go and eat an amazing Katsudon again .” The urge to give up is definitely there. On the other hand, there is another part of you that says “Look how far you’ve come!!! You can’t give up now! It’s only a few more weeks, then you can have all the Katsudon you want! You’ve done 7 weeks already; it would be a shame to waste them by breaking your commitment… They’ve also promised you a beautiful change in the end, don’t you want to stick around to see it happen???”

So here I am, in this messy middle, satisfied but frustrated, part of me willing to quit, part of me wanting to persevere and hopefully see an even bigger transformation at the end.

While I may have been talking about my health program, this difficult journey of change can be seen anywhere, including learning English.

As coaches, we see the students at Veritas going through the same transformation. As any alumni student would tell you, our programs our intense. With an average of 15 hours of self-study per week and 2 hours of tough discussions where coaches challenge you to be more convincing with your opinions, our programs are definitely not for the faint-hearted.

Similar to my health journey, change is hard at first. Overwhelm in class and at home. A real shock to the system. A huge amount of homework. (seems like being a University student again!). As we continue, students see themselves making progress, and even though it’s hard, they are committed and continue forward.

And then we reach the messy middle… Students have made good progress and are satisfied; commitment declines, homework is delayed or even skipped… A very similar situation to where I am now with my health program. And yet, there is still a long way to go, more progress to be made, and even bigger transformation at the end!!

Having seen many students come and go at Veritas, seeing their journey of change, I can tell you one thing: the students willing to persevere and get through the messy middle are the ones with the biggest transformation in the end.

I know it’s difficult. I understand the messy middle. I really want the Katsudon, you really want whatever your Katsudon is. But we’ve come so far! Let’s resist and persevere our way to the beautiful transformation for a few more weeks, and then we can have all the Katsudon we want.

If you are in a journey of change, I hope this article has been helpful for you. Let’s hang in there, I promise you it’s worth it.