A lot of us are looking to make some positive changes in our life, but we have no idea where to begin. My suggestion is to do something different.
When you're willing to do something different, you are telling yourself, your subconscious mind, and the entire Universe, "I'm asking for a change and I'm willing to DO something about it now." The Universe responds to DOING since it actually means you're starting to also BE something different.
You don't even have to know what to do, at least not at the start. Doing ANYTHING different, that seems like it MIGHT head in the direction of what you are looking for, is a step in the right direction. You can make adjustments as you go. You can fine-tune the changes you are asking for later, once you get the hang of doing something different. The point is this: DO SOMETHING -- ANYTHING -- DIFFERENT.
Let's say you have the same habit of never having enough money in your bank account, but you never know where it goes. Something different might be getting an old-school notebook out and writing down your expenses. Or if you want to be fashionably high-tech, you could get an expense-tracking app, AND USE IT. This one small act for many people has been the beginning of getting their financial affairs in order by doing something different.
Or let's say you realize that you are being sucked down the social media rabbit hole, feeling as though you don't exist without the infusion of other people's perfectly-curated lives into yours. (Hint: if you're rabidly checking your phone at every non-busy moment, this applies to you.) Doing something different might be taking designated hours off during the day--or even just ONE HOUR off during the day. (Note: picking one of the hours while you're sleeping doesn't count!)
One courageous journalist I know of took an entire 30 days away from "social." Now THAT is something different! (You can read the chronicles of her journey HERE.)
Now, I'm not suggesting that you go cold turkey like that unless you have a lot of personal strength and courage, and the willingness to dynamically change that area of your life. Sometimes making a bold move like that will be what's required. Many times making a small change in the direction of doing something different will create enough of a change to give you a different perspective and get you out of the rabbit hole.
HERE'S A MINI TO-DO LIST FOR YOU:
1. Write down the top three areas of your life that you feel need a bit of an overhaul.
2. On a scale of 1-10, how important is it TO YOU that this area change?
HINT: IF IT'S A 10, DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT TODAY
3.Now ask yourself this question: "What's the easiest thing I could do different, starting now, that would allow this area to change?"
Now here's the cool part: when you ask a question, you open doors of possibility that didn't appear to be there before. It's like staring at a wall, and all of a sudden a door appears when you ask the question. When you ask, "What it's going to take to change this area?" you put your attention in that direction, and the world around you mobilizes to give you an awareness of exactly that.
So, for example, let's say you feel like you never have any time or space to yourself. Your batteries are getting run down and you don't know what to do about it. If this sounds like you, one of the things that may come up when you ask that question is: "spend some time alone nurturing you." And of course, your mind goes into all the reasons and justifications why it's not possible.
"You're too busy."
"You have kids."
"Your family, job, and social media obligations take up all of your time."
"You'll never get all your work done..."
And on and on and on and on....
That's the way your mind works. It is always giving you the reasons why you can't, not the way in which you can. So when you ask the question about what you can do different, give your mind a break. Let it know: "I've got this. Go take a break." And let your childlike sense of wonder and possibility run the show for a few minutes.
If you have to, use logic to outwit your mind. You could look at it this way: if you don't do anything different than you are doing right now, what will your life be like in 5 years? Better, worse, or the same? Probably worse, right? I mean, if you don't change things now, when will you?
Also, what if all the reasons and justifications your mind comes up with are exactly why you haven't been able to change this area in the past? So, tell your mind to shut up for a moment, and do something different.
In doing something different, you might find that you also start to BE different - with yourself and with the people around you. You might notice that the people around you notice a difference in you and start to change as well.
I know one woman, a married mother of four kids, with her own hair salon, who felt like she was always drained. She asked herself, "What's the easiest thing I could do different starting now that would allow this area to change?" She took one of the tools I give to people in my workshops, which is to take half an hour for herself each day.
She started to get up really early in the mornings, and went for a walk in the small forest right behind her house. The sensation of being in nature was totally nurturing for her. She sent me an email two weeks after starting this, saying that she had finally used this tool after two years of hearing it and thinking she didn't have the time to do it.
She said she was having energy again for the first time since she had her second child and she felt a sense of hope in her world, rather than the despair that had been there before. She was having her.
Two weeks. Half an hour a day. That's not much effort or time to get control of your life again, and have a sense of energy available. Just saying!
She was willing to #dosomethingdifferent.
What about you, dear reader? Would your life get better if you chose to do something different? Starting today? Even right now?