Making Change Happen

Since somehow the New Year got to be about change, I thought I’d chime in with my ten cents worth (inflation…advice has gotten more expensive but still only worth what it means to you:-).

Almost every human being alive has something he or she would like to experience in life…we call these things dreams, goals, wishes, wants or even desire. Whatever you call them, they are usually things you don’t currently have.

These ‘things’ can be literal things, like a new car or a relationship, or they can be experiences, like travel, fun, play, or even emotions like joy, happiness or love.

Whatever they are (I’m about to tell you something zillions of people have said before), they’re fairly easy to have. And all it takes to have them is one thing.  Well, maybe not just one thing…but basically one thing followed by one other thing to support the first thing.

Wanting What Other People Have – Life Mistake #1

Here you are, living your life. You look around at other people living their lives and you think you see something that THEY have that YOU don’t (first big life mistake). You see…most of the things that you think other people really have, they don’t. Or they don’t enjoy them and guess what? THEY secretly want something YOU have.

Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with wanting something you don’t have. It’s just that I want you to want it for the right reasons…not because someone else has it. I want you to really have thought out WHY you want whatever it is so that you are very clear because it takes clarity to create this new thing in your life.

Thinking That Other People Have It Better Than You – Life Mistake #2

We often think that bad things only happen to US and that those OTHER people are living better lives (with all the things that they have that we don’t – see Mistake #1). Not so and no one has ever said it better than Josh Shipp. Here he is for your enjoyment!

No Where To Go

One of my favorite ah-hahs in life has to be when I discovered years ago that there was no where to go. Literally! There’s no place to get to. But human beings strive to ‘get there’ anywhere.

• We want to get to financial freedom.
• We want to get healthy.
• We want to get fit, lean, strong, whatever.
• We want to have that job title.
• We wan to earn that certain salary.
• We want to be in the most romantic relationship with the best looking person.
• We want to have the perfect kid.

Whatever it is, once we have it, we’re there! Right? Wrong.

This is what I noticed in my late 30’s and into my 40’s…OMG, there is no place to go. I was simply where I was and it was up to me to make it great! To this day, I love being where I am…most of the time. When I’m not, I have simply forgotten the lesson and have to be reminded.

Creating Change Is Just One Thing (Followed By One Other Thing)

Are you ready for the one thing that’s required for any change to ever happen in your life? I mean really ready? OK, here is is. All change requires is a strong, well-thought out, clear…

DECISION

Yup, that’s all it takes. Yes, there’s having an awareness that something needs to change or having a desire to experience something new in your life, etc. But once you know what it is you want or want to change (which is wanting something other than what you have), you simply have to make a decision to get it or make it happen. Once you make the decision, and I mean really make the decision, it seems like things just fall into place naturally. At least this is my experience and hey, that’s all I can speak from.

The Thing That Follows The Decision

OK, you know how sometimes you live your life paying attention to what you’re doing and other times you’re don’t?

Have you ever noticed that during the times you are very present that life seems to go smoother and you sail through minutes and hours and days effortlessly?

Well, the thing that supports the DECISION is simple…and I call it…

MINDFULLNESS

When you’re mindful of what you’re doing, you’re making choices that support the decision. Often when you’re not mindful, you don’t. I wrote about something I call “pre-decisions” a few weeks ago. Pre-decisions are simply steps that ensure mindfulness in the future, even if you’re not:-). If you missed that post, click on the link and wonder over and read it.

So, here’s your Happy New Year Gift…Let’s call it The Gift Of Change.

If you do these couple of activities, and use this wisdom, I promise you’ll have a lot more success at changing things in your life than you will if you try and follow processes with zillions of steps that so many other people read about. Those articles always just cause me to roll my eyes and not finish reading the information because it’s so overwhelming.

The zillions of steps you’ll need to take for change will happen naturally and organically if you just do these couple of things.

First…

Change Activity #1:

Write down ONE thing you want and WHY you want it. Be as crystal clear about the WHY as you can possibly get. And if there’s any hesitation in your gut about wanting it…you don’t want it badly enough to make it happen. It has to so strong and so clear that nothing will cause you to change your mind.

By the way, did you notice I didn’t ask you to write down all of your goals? Or write down 10 things? Just one at a time is plenty.

Change Activity #2:

Find a place to sit quietly by yourself. Think about this thing. Think about what it will take to make happen…not in terms of the amount of work but the amount of surrendering to it you’ll need to do. Think about this thing in terms of your clarity and your why from activity #1.

When you’re ready, make THE DECISION.

Then smile. Know that you’ve taken the next best step to creating that change in your life, bringing that experience into your life, having that thing that you really want.

Once you’ve made The Decision, it’s time for the mindfulness. Notice how you feel, notice what you say about the thing (maybe best at first to keep it to yourself rather than spread it around. Just see how THAT feels. This helps make sure you made the decision for YOU).

Then start to notice how you take little steps toward this thing each day without even really thinking about it.

 

 

 

 

Tips To Stay Mindful

This may sound silly but just put notes up around your house, in your car, on your desk, in the bathroom that say, “MINDFUL” on them. All I can say is thank goodness for sticky notes!

Once you get the hang of it, you won’t need so many of these reminders but they are the most wonderful thing.

They will remind you to think before spending money on something you don’t need or want (you knew I’d get that in there somewhere…after all it IS a blog about financial wisdom), think before you choose something other than what will move you toward the object/subject of your decision, etc.

Change…In Summary

It’s simple…

If you live in a country where you’re free to make changes in your life, then you have the power to change your life and have something you want. (And though inherently we are all born with the ability to be free thinkers, we’re not all raised to understand and believe this and if you don’t believe it..well…it isn’t so.)

1. Choose something you want to change or something you want to experience or something you want in your life.
2. Be crystal clear about wanting it and why.
3. Make the decision to make it happen.
4. Be mindful as you take the steps to bring it about.
5. Enjoy the process along the way (which is the main reason behind the mindfulness in the first place).

MOVIE TIP: If you have Netflix, rent The Flowering of Human Consciousness with Eckhart Tolle. He is the author of The Power of Now which I loved and recommend often.

So, Happy New Year. Happy Today. Happy Moment and all the moments that will follow for you.

As always…just something to think about.