Be Your Best Self: Do Something Different

People will eventually take action one way or another. One way, you are forced to. The other way, it is in your control. What are you neglecting? What change are you resisting? What are you hiding from? And more importantly, why are you doing that?
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I've been thinking a lot lately about finding your life purpose. But in order to do that, you must get out of your comfort zone and do something different. If you are just going through the motions of life and not making any positive changes, then you are not making progress - you are stagnating. And does anyone really want to stagnate? I'm thinking that most people don't. So what can you do? How do you get out of your old ruts and habits and move forward in life to become your best self?

It all starts with a decision to do something different.

Let me tell you a story about a woman I know named "Darcy." Darcy is in her mid-40s, has been married for 17 years, and has four children ages 9 through 15. She was a 5th grade teacher, and her husband was a manager at a local company. They were pretty standard middle class people. But here's the catch. If you looked at her life from the outside, her life seemed amazing. A few years ago, all her Facebook friends might have seen was going on family vacations and looking like she had the perfect husband, perfect kids, perfect house ... perfect life.

But that couldn't be farther from the truth. You see, Darcy's world was crumbling. She had no work-life balance. She and her husband had almost $100,000 in credit card debt, $150,000 in student loans, a huge house they couldn't afford, and at one point, 3 kids all in daycare (which is crazy expensive). Her house was weeks away from being foreclosed on, and she was literally down on her knees praying to God for an answer for the first time in her life. Shortly after that, her life turned around.

You might be wondering what in the world happened? It sounds like a hopeless story, doesn't it? It sure does. But her life changed because she decided to do something different and get out of her old ruts. She joined a network marketing company that sells weight loss and nutritional products. And in a little over a year, she lost weight, saved her house by refinancing, was at the diamond level making nearly half a million dollars a year. Since then, both she and her husband have quit their jobs and are doing this full time. They not only changed their lives, they are helping to change other people's lives too.

But it didn't come easily. She had to make some tough choices. She missed her kids' games and activities. She stayed up too many late nights. She started the long road toward paying down her debt. Essentially, she built her own business from the ground up and had to make some new company decisions, such as would she have a home office or rent building space? In other words, she sacrificed. And in the end it paid off - both literally and figuratively.

But this article isn't about network marketing companies, it's about making tough choices to be your best self. Darcy's story is probably very common - at least the first part of it. But that's where most people give up. But she didn't, and look what happened!

I have always said that in order to make positive changes in your life, you have to be so sick of where you are at the moment, that you would be willing to do anything to change. For example, maybe you've hit the breaking point with your weight and are tired of feeling bad and tired all the time. Maybe you're like Darcy and have hit your bottom with your finances, relationships, or anything else.

Unfortunately for many people, it is only during times like this when most change starts to occur. Many people need to be brought to the brink of disaster before they make the move toward changing their lives. For example, I've known people who had cancer and call it a "blessing in disguise" because it forced them to appreciate their lives, make positive changes, and not take anything for granted. Why is that? Why is it that many people don't act until they have no choice to do so?

I have pondered this question a lot. While I have not taken things to an extreme in my life like Darcy, I can still relate. In some ways, I am like that myself. I have been in situations where I had to get sick of "being there" before I decided to make a change. But I do try to not let it get that far, because then the change that is required is a lot less. It's just easier for me to not create the negative circumstances to begin with. Simply put, it's a lot easier to clean up a small mess than it is clean up to huge one.

The way I see it, people will eventually take action one way or another. One way, you are forced to. The other way, it is in your control.

What are you neglecting? What change are you resisting? What are you hiding from? And more importantly, why are you doing that?

So why not do something different before it's too late?

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