“I’ve changed” is a claim. Six months of showing it is the proof.

Saying you are different is the easiest part of being different, which is why it comes first and alone. Change is only observable over time, in situations that resemble the ones where the old behavior appeared. Anyone asking for proof is not being unforgiving; they are asking for the only evidence that exists.

If you have changed, stop announcing it and let the record accumulate. If you are the one being asked to believe it, watch a stretch rather than a moment, especially under pressure. Time is the instrument, and there is no substitute for it.