The Golden Key to Successful Change
Change is all around us. The world is changing as a whole, as we all are simultaneously changing individually. For us, this relates to work, family, economy, health, success and the like. Change is often wanted, yet it frightens us. Why is that? Because nothing seems more safe and comfortable than in the cocoon – transitioning to a beautiful butterfly is attractive, yet a bit scary.
Take Time to Be Grateful for Successful Change
Thankfully, we live in a time where we are both allowed and encouraged to fulfill our needs and achieve our goals. This has led to a constant flow of always wanting better for ourselves. This phenomenon has both its pros and cons. The possibility to create more happiness for ourselves is obviously positive. But at the same time, we must be careful not to want change just for the change itself. We could always make more money, eat healthier, work out more, and look better. If we get stuck in this never-ending flow, we will never be happy where we are. Our happiness will always linger somewhere in the future.
Follow these two steps to make the successful transition from cocoon to butterfly:
Successful Change Step #1 – Don’t change just for the change itself. Prioritize.
Ask yourself; what are you the happiest with in your life right now? Put a smiley face next to it, and leave it like this. Applaud yourself for a job well done.
Then ask yourself; if you were to change just one thing that would improve your life quality the most, that you really want, what specifically would that be? Keep your focus on this aspect for now. People are easily overwhelmed with too many projects. One step at a time!
Successful Change Step #2 – When you have figured your true desire, think about why you haven’t already gone through with it.
This is one of the major reasons why people fail along the road; we feel we will always lose something by changing it. This can relate to our spare time, the comfort of eating junk food, the softness of the couch after a long day’s work, and the compassion from others by staying in the victim role. The truth is, change requires work. It requires energy, as well as consistency. Do not fear change; it is absolutely possible to succeed in changing despite this fear. But if we don’t identify what we are going to lose, and prepare for it, it will most likely happen unconsciously and pull us back towards old, comfortable patterns. So what to do?
Think about what you will lose by doing what the change requires. Is it spare time? Family time? Money? Comfort? There is always something. When you have identified your possible loss, there are two options. Sometimes it is enough to be prepared for it and weigh the loss against the future gain. Other times, it is best to find alternative methods to take care of the aspects we are afraid of losing. For example, if the change will require time usually spent with the family, we can plan a family vacation to make up for it. If we are losing weight and miss the junk food, we can find recipes with healthier snacks to replace it.
It all comes down to how much we want it. When we find something we really desire and identify and accept what we will have to sacrifice along the way, success is truly ours. We just have to remember to support ourselves in new ways as we go. Good luck!
