Mad Eye Moody from the Harry Potter novels was fond of shouting “Constant Vigilance!” to remind his students to be constantly on guard against dark forces. We should all take heed. There are dark forces conspiring all around us to bring us down to mediocrity. We must be ever vigilant and strengthen our resolve to fight those enemies of our greatness.
I lost some weight and then in a weekend I put it back on. What the hell! I’m sure I am not the first person that has made this error. The lesson here is two-fold: 1) every step forward is hard-fought and hard-won so do not take them for granted; and 2) our comfort zone (mediocrity) is a point of homeostasis and our body will immediately go back to it unless we fight hard.
The good news is that once you know this you will be grateful for every step forward and cherish them and protect them. Furthermore, you can reset your homeostasis point over time. If you work hard enough your body will realize that the new you is the normal you and forget the old you. Time and pressure turns coal into diamonds.