Spiritual Quick Fix - Come On Inner Peace, I Don't Have All Day!

I’m often asked what started me on the spiritual path. The short answer? I wanted to feel better. At the time, my life was a juggling act. I was working full-time, studying, running a private practice, and attempting to train a cocker spaniel puppy who had absolutely no interest in being trained. I needed inner peace, and FAST.

Spoiler Alert!

Imagine my surprise when, after a few classes with my spiritual teacher—a Buddhist monk—I didn’t feel any different. I wasn’t floating in a state of inner peace and enlightenment. I was just as stressed, just as impatient, and I had another frustration to add to my list—meditation wasn’t working for me.

So, I did what any self-respecting, high-achiever would do: I gave up and went in search of a quicker fix.

The Business of Life

The Myth Of The Quick Fix

Over the next few months, I threw money at every 'instant inner peace' solution I could find. I went on expensive retreats, bought more crystals, signed up to work with the people that promised they could change my life in 7 days, etc etc. Some felt good for a while, but the underlying stress, discontentment, exhaustion and generally feeling of 'meh', always crept back in. The inner peace I was chasing remained elusive and seemingly out of my reach.

Eventually, after many months of my relentless pursuit of the quick fix, I found myself back in front of my teacher. I fessed up that I'd tried to 'bio-hack' my way to inner peace, to which he simply smiled and said, “Now, you’re ready.”—that was over 30 years ago!

We live in a world that thrives on instant results, so it’s no surprise that we approach spirituality in the same way. We want calm on demand and inner peace that fits neatly into our schedules. But inner peace doesn’t come from a single meditation session, a weekend retreat, or the latest self-help podcast. It’s not a product to consume—it’s a practice to embody.

And that’s where so many people get stuck. We assume that if we don’t feel an immediate high, we’re doing something wrong. But just like you don’t go to the gym once and expect to be fit for life, you don’t meditate a handful of times and experience inner peace and serenity.

So What Does Work?

Inner peace isn’t something you find—it’s something you create, daily, in every moment. Another spoiler alert: it requires commitment. It requires showing up, even when you don’t feel like it. When you’re triggered, when you're frustrated, when you're angry, when you're sad. Even, and especially when you’re convinced it’s not working. Because that's when the real transformation happens; in the consistency.

A spiritual practice doesn’t have to mean meditating for hours on a mountaintop or embarking on a silent retreat (unless you want to do that). It’s about creating small, intentional, consistent habits that bring you back to centre, day after day after day. For some, it might be meditation, for others, it might be journaling, or a reflective practice of self-inquiry that explores thoughts and emotions.

Breath work, mindful walking, a gratitude practice, or even something as simple as taking a breath before reacting, are all spiritual practices. The key is finding what resonates with you and making it a non-negotiable part of your life. Inner peace won't magically appear without putting the work in, so its about creating the conditions where inner peace can emerge.

Immersed in Nature

The Lifelong Journey

One of the biggest lessons to learn on the spiritual path, is that it doesn't have a finish line. There’s no final destination where you arrive, fully enlightened, and never experience stress again. Life still happens. But if you commit to a consistent spiritual practice the benefits will be beyond your wildest dreams.

If, like I was, you’re in that place of frustration, wondering why inner peace is taking its sweet time to show up: Breathe. Be patient. Be consistent and keep showing up. Because one day, when you’re least expecting it, you’ll realise that inner peace was never something to chase—it was always within you, waiting for you to be still.

At One With Nature