One of the things that I keep hearing people say is the quotation, “the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.” That is wholly inaccurate. First, per dictionary.com, insanity is “the condition of being insane; a derangement of the mind.” The synonyms listed are dementia, lunacy, madness, craziness, mania, aberration. Second, the act of doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result is actually endurance, patience, and practice.

When you lift weights, you see no immediate difference. It is difficult and it hurts the next day or two. The same thing happens the next time. So you should quit, right? Nope. When you begin yoga or barre or running, it is rough at first, it can hurt, and you might not make it through the entire time. Do you try something different instead? NO! You keep doing this until it is easier, then you try more advanced positions or heavier weights, or increase your speed and increase your distance. You don’t just think that these endeavors have failed the first few times.

The same goes for parenting. What you try today might not work. It might not work tomorrow or even next month. But eventually, it will. Eventually, your kids will take their shoes to their rooms and actually fold their laundry without being told. The advice that does not work for ionic and covalent bondings and the reactions those cause or for cooking or for interpersonal relationships among adults does not apply across the board. Do your reps. Stick with it for a year. Don’t think three months in, “Well, this isn’t working.” As long as you are sticking to the diet and doing the reps and doing the workouts, it IS working. Now, if your “cheat” days are numerous and you take an “off night” most nights, then THIS is what is not working. But again, do the workouts, stick to eating healthy foods (if it comes in a box and has an additional wrapper around the portions contained inside that box and is not butter or cheese, this food is decidedly unhealthy) and you’ll see the results. Keep going. Keep doing the same thing: eat right, work out, sleep. (Different workouts each day, of course.)

Here, doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results is scientifically sound: eventually, your body recognizes that there is a need for additional vascular pathways. Eventually, your lungs deal better with the oxygen needed to run and your muscles will start to react better to the weight you are lifting and an increase therein. Why? Because our bodies will not adapt until a need is established. Your brain does not send out messages to increase the number of conduits for blood in your body because you ran out of a room screaming because there is a centipede on the wall. Not for that one time. Or for two. Make this a daily habit and you’ll see a difference (you might want to move your woodpile away from your house, too. It sounds like you have a ‘pede infestation). Make this a daily habit and your body grows more capillaries. Make this a daily habit and you’ll get your cardio inside your own home and desensitize your neighbors to your cries for help. Jokes aside, you get my point. Your body will adapt when it determines that there is a need to adapt; when it knows that this behavior is not going to change and it will need to be accommodated. If you don’t push some things repetitively, basically on faith, without seeing improvement, then you will never see the changes. So keep doing the same healthy things (consistently) and expect something different to happen. Eventually.