I am a thinker. I am a writer. I am unafraid of pondering the tough issues in my life. In fact, I spend most days running through scenarios of what I did, what I could have done, and what I should do next. I think. I think a lot. And it is good. My self-awareness is strong. My knowledge of forward-thinking and spirituality is vast. What I have learned however is that all my thinking and all my knowledge does not make any changes in my life. Nothing changes until something changes.
All the thinking in the world does not change anything until we actually take action. Saying that the world would be more peaceful if we were kinder to each other doesn’t change the world until our actions are actually more kind. Simple concept, yes? Like much of self-improvement, simple concepts are the bedrock of improvement, but the execution of those concepts is where things become more difficult.
How many times in our lives are we replaying the same story day in and day out? We say the same things, do the same things, and then are upset that nothing changes in our lives. Why would anything change? We are on autopilot. We are hoping and wishing for change, but until we take some action for change, our stories will simply repeat.
Start Small
The good news is that we don’t need to take big actions to start change. If we are unhappy with our job, we don’t need to quit it right now. The first change we can make is to admit our unhappiness to a trusted confident. We can find one small thing about our position and change it. We can start networking to find a new position. We can dust off our resume. We can take any little action to make our current situation better or to move toward the new. It is like the answer to the question of how do you eat an elephant – one bite at a time. We don’t need to eat the whole thing. Just one small step will move us in the right direction. It is amazing how a tiny little step forward initiates a chain reaction of other movements. We don’t have to do it all. We don’t have to do it all right now. We don’t have to do it alone.
Start Today
As the saying goes, the best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago, and the second-best day is today. If you catch yourself hoping and wishing for change, stop replaying the story. Stop beating yourself up for not doing something sooner. Stop hoping for change. Be the change. Have the courage to do something today to start the process. Do you want to write? Buy a notebook or create a file on your computer. Do you want to lose weight? Research what is healthiest for you. Whatever you want to move toward do something today, right now, that is alignment with your dreams.
Change Your Routine
Our fear can keep us in a rut. If taking a small action toward your dream feels overwhelming, do something – anything – that is different than usual. Drive a new way home. Style your hair differently. Rearrange the furniture in your house. Making changes elsewhere in our lives can also start the momentum to making the big changes we desire.
Write down the change you want to make in your life. Place it somewhere you will see it every day. If you don’t know the change you want to make, take some time to identify what is not working in your life and then write down the opposite. Each day read what you want to change and make some small effort toward that goal. The journey of a thousand miles, begins with the first step.
