Physical science gives us an important lesson about what to expect from transformative change. It’s a reminder that sometimes there are important transformative forces at work, even when results are not quick to show up. The lesson comes from how a substance like water undergoes a transformation from one state to another. For example, think about what’s required to turn liquid water into steam? They are chemically identical: H2O. However, water has three possible states (ice, liquid water, and steam), and much is required to move from one state into another.

Consider what’s needed to heat ice-cold water at 32 degrees Fahrenheit up to the point where it turns into steam. We can measure this scientifically, and a remarkable fact emerges. Calories are units of energy, and it takes 100 calories to heat a gram of water from ice-cold right up to the point where it reaches 212 degrees Fahrenheit. But then we have to pump in another 540 calories of energy – that is, more than five times the amount we have already invested – in order to get the water to transform from scalding hot liquid at 212 into steam, still at that same 212 degrees. That extra investment of energy is called “latent heat.” It’s invisible, in a sense, because there doesn’t seem to be any tangible result while that extra energy is going in. While those 540 calories of energy are going in, the scalding hot water looks like it remains just scalding hot water, still at 212 degrees. However, something very significant is happening at a molecular level. Preparation for a dramatic transformation – a change of state – is taking place.

Consider that often works in the same way. Once you are willing to change, once you are committed to transformational change in your life, you may find that considerable effort, attention, and time is required before it looks like things have altered in your life. But something important is going on during that “latency period.” The energy is being invested in a way that can ultimately lead to a change in the state of who you are. It’s worth the patient and consistent efforts required.