#86 Counting Every Step Along the Way: Receiving Growth Before You've Fully Arrived

What happens when you can see that something is changing, but it still isn’t quite where you want it to be?Growth can be easier to recognize when the results are obvious. The old pattern doesn’t happen. The conversation goes differently. Something that used to be hard suddenly feels easier.But so much of real growth happens somewhere in between where we started and where we hope to go.In this episode, Trish continues the conversation about how we recognize progress when growth is still unfolding. Through a recent experience with her own familiar shame spiral and an imperfect but meaningful moment of support from her partner, she explores what it means not only to notice growth, but to actually receive it and let it count.Because receiving growth doesn’t mean declaring the work finished.We can appreciate that something is different while still wanting more. We can recognize our own increased capacity while acknowledging the places where old patterns still show up. And we can receive a partner’s effort without pretending it landed exactly the way we wanted it to.Through personal storytelling, practical neuroscience, and the lens of The Road to Reconnection™, Trish explores how focusing only on what is still missing can make it harder to take in how far we have already come.In this episode, you'll learn:Why an old familiar pattern showing up doesn’t erase the growth that has already happened.What it can look like to have a different relationship with an experience that once overwhelmed you.Why receiving a partner’s growth doesn’t require ignoring what you still need or want.How focusing on the remaining distance can cause us to overlook meaningful change that is already happening.Why our present-day lives and environments may not yet reflect all of the growth that has happened within us.How compassion for where we have been can coexist with continuing to influence where we are going.Why noticing, receiving, and allowing imperfect growth to matter may help support what becomes possible next.We don’t have to wait until we have fully arrived to appreciate how far we’ve traveled.There can still be more road ahead.There can still be things we want to change.There can still be old patterns, messy moments, and places where we wish things looked different.And we can count every step along the way.Because growth does not need to be complete before it matters.If you and your partner are ready to co-create the roadmap to the relationship of your dreams, join us for the next in-person "Getting the Love You Want" Weekend Couples Retreat! For support in how to have deeper connections and better communication in the relationships that matter most in your life, follow the host, Trish Sanders on Instagram , Bluesky or LinkedIn.