Why You’re Not Seeing Results from Your Good Habits: A Personal Growth Principle Most People Miss

You know you're saving money.

And yet you check your bank account at the end of the month, and you're only plus a few bucks.

It can be discouraging.

But the secret here is that sometimes in life there's a delayed feedback loop.

Yes, the positive actions we take oftentimes don't show up in our life until a while later on.

And that's what makes it so hard to keep going, to keep moving forward, to keep making the good decisions, because the benefits are delayed.

So today, my friend, we're going to explore this in a deeper sense.

We're going to get you understanding exactly what I'm talking about and how once you understand this simple truth, you can use it for your benefit to help you as you continue on this journey called life.

So, my friend, if you're up for an exploration into what I'm calling the delayed feedback loop, well, it's all inside of today's 430th episode of Grit Grace and Inspiration.

What is up, my friend, and welcome back to Great Grace and Inspiration.

I am your host, Kevin Lowe.

And my friend, if you're listening to this episode at the time of its release, well, congratulations.

We have just made it through the first month of 2026.

Hopefully, you've been enjoying the podcast.

Hopefully, you've been getting something out of the episodes that I have released this month.

And just in case, if you've been wondering, where the heck are the interviews at?

Well, my friend, coming up next week, we are diving back into an amazing interview with a guest who is sure to leave you in awe at his story.

So please be sure that if you've been waiting for me to get back into the interviews, it is coming up next week.

So just stay tuned.

Now, one last quick little announcement before we dive into the heart of today's episode is that I want to remind you that you can grab the free grace and inspiration life guide.

There is a link at the top of today's show notes where you can download this free PDF document.

And basically, it's just a guide to help you with whatever you're dealing with in life.

Whatever you're going through, whatever season you find yourself in, there is a podcast episode for you.

And that guide is going to direct you to exactly where you need to go.

So please be sure to scroll down and check out the episode description where you can find a link to download the Grit Grace and Inspiration Life Guide.

To set the stage for today's conversation, I want you to grasp the simple understanding.

Every action you take, it sends a ripple forward in time.

I'm talking about every action you take, good or bad, is emitting a ripple, an echo into your future.

Basically, an easy way to think of this is think of yourself standing at the edge of the Grand Canyon.

You shout into that canyon because, of course, we all want to hear our echo.

And at first, you hear nothing.

That doesn't mean that your voice isn't powerful.

It doesn't mean that you didn't just shout.

It means it's traveling.

And it takes time before that echo hits the other side of the canyon and bounces back, or you hear yourself again.

Now, the thing that's crazy about life, in terms of what we're talking about, about positive actions versus negative actions, is that unfortunately our negative echoes, so the response to our negative actions we take, they come back way faster than the positive.

So, what does this look like in a practical sense?

You eat poorly, you choose the wrong decisions at lunch for the past week.

The scale increases almost overnight.

You ignore the finances, you go ahead and you buy what you want, you go ahead and continue going to Starbucks every morning.

And sure enough, that bank account decreases really quick.

Or maybe it's avoiding the call and you put off the uncomfortable.

Well, what happens?

Well, opportunities close up, doors close.

And that is because negative choices are loud and quick.

If you compare that to positive actions, well, they're slow, they're delayed.

I'm talking about you've been going to the gym maybe since the start of the year, when everybody else has been going to the gym.

And yet, what do you have to show for it?

You have some sore muscles, you've been spending money on a gym membership that you're locked into for the next year, and you don't see the abs.

You don't feel any stronger.

Or maybe it goes back to saving money.

You've been saving money, but you don't have anything to show for it.

It's not like you feel any richer at the end of the month.

What I want you to realize here, tying it back to this analogy of the echo, is just because the echo is silent doesn't mean that the sound wasn't powerful.

All those reps that you've been taking, going to the gym, choosing to not go through Starbucks every morning, those are powerful actions.

And the more powerful the action, a lot of times, the echo, the benefit is delayed.

So basically, here's the truth of the matter.

We are all addicted to the instant feedback.

We want to get results immediately.

Because I don't know about you, but if I'm going to the gym for a month, I want to see something from it.

If I've been eating healthy for a month, I want to feel better.

Or maybe it's in terms of business, if I've been making it a goal to be on social media more, posting for my business, I want to see a return on that investment.

And so when we don't hear anything back, we assume that silence means failure.

But in fact, silence isn't failure.

It's basically you just planting a seed.

What I'm saying is that if you don't like where you are in life right now, it's not because of the choices that you made today.

It's honestly the echo of the choices you made three or six months ago.

So what does this mean?

Well, what it means is you're not behind.

You're just hearing an old echo.

You're hearing the echo from your past.

Now, what I hope you gain from this is the understanding, though, that right now is your opportunity to shape the future.

We are also focused on right now.

But right now is the opportunity to work on how you're gonna feel at the end of this year.

Not focusing on how you feel right now, but putting in the work, putting in the effort with the understanding that the positive feedback is gonna be delayed.

You're not gonna get the results tomorrow.

So if you've got big goals for what you want to achieve in your life this year, you have to start living in alignment with those goals.

Because living in alignment is what you do every day to achieve those goals.

And basically, the truth is that the most successful people, they're not more motivated than you.

They just simply stay in alignment long enough to collect on those positive echoes, to collect on those positive results because they understand the simple truth that the positive actions we take each and every day, they build upon each other.

They're just knowing that they have to stay in alignment, to stay consistent, to keep showing up, knowing that they're not doing all of this for the results to happen tomorrow.

No, they're doing all this for the results to show up in three months, in six months, in a year from now.

So the thing, though, is that's easier said than done.

Because how do you keep going?

How do these people keep going when they're not getting that positive feedback?

Because I don't know about you, but I like some positive feedback.

I like to know that what I'm doing is actually working.

Well, I've broken it down into what I'm considering the three strategies that you need to help you keep going, even when you're not getting that positive feedback.

Number one, I want you to start tracking the behavior, not the feedback.

What does this mean?

It means that I want you to focus on celebrating the actions you're taking.

I want you to celebrate every rep, every trip to the gym, every time that you order the salad, good for you.

Mark that down as a win.

The second thing I want you to do is I want you to constantly keep measuring backwards.

What does this mean?

I want you to continue comparing yourself to yesterday, to last week, to last month.

And not the result, but the actions you're taking every day.

How have you grown?

How is the person you are today different than the person you were last month?

Maybe you've started getting up earlier every single day.

Maybe you've made exercising part of your regular daily routine.

Compare that way, backwards.

Stop focusing so much on comparing to what we want, to what we're trying to achieve, and start looking backwards a bit to understand how you've been growing as a person.

And my last little tip for you to keep you moving forward is I want you to name your breakthrough, even though it's delayed.

I want you to claim it, to name it.

I'm building my six month from now self.

I'm not looking for my bank account to be radically different in a month.

No, but by the end of the year, I want to have saved this much extra money.

By the end of the year, I want to be down to this weight.

By the end of the year, I want to be able to run a triathlon.

Whatever it is, is name it to get declare it, to speak it out loud, to speak it into truth, and to make it clear to you of what it is that you want.

Not the small little goal, but the big goal, the delayed goal that you know exactly what you're fighting for.

Basically, I want you to realize that your future self is cheering you on for what you're doing today.

So, what I want you to get out of today's episode is basically the idea that every action you take, it's gonna come back.

It's gonna have feedback, good or bad.

The negative things we do, the wrong choices, the bad choices, unfortunately, they tend to bounce back much faster than the positive.

But if you understand that and you realize it, then you won't be discouraged when you're not seeing the results that you want.

You'll understand the realization that what you've been doing isn't for nothing.

It's just building upon itself.

It's gonna take time before you see it.

But once you do, well, then my friend, I have to believe it compounds and everything in your life can begin to improve and can get better.

You just have to remember to stay the course, to stay disciplined enough with the understanding that there's just a delayed feedback loop.

You are just waiting on that positive feedback to come back to you.

So, my friend, that is today's episode.

That is the simple little mindset shift that I wanted to provide you with.

Hopefully, it landed.

Hopefully, something I said made sense and just has you looking at what you're doing, the goals you have, the dreams you're trying to achieve.

It just has you looking at things in a little bit longer term picture.

You know, I think all of us, we want things yesterday.

But the fact is true is that sometimes we have to just settle down and realize that right now, I just have to celebrate the little actions I take, understanding that those are building and compounding to get me to where I ultimately want to go.

My friend, this is Grit Grace and Inspiration.

I am your host, Kevin Lowe, thanking you as always for being here.

If you have not already hit the button to subscribe or follow the podcast on your preferred app, please be sure to do so so that you never miss another episode.

Because remember, a new episode is coming out each and every Tuesday morning.

Until next week, I'm your host, Kevin Lowe.

Get out there and start making some positive actions in pursuit of the goals you have for tomorrow.