Have you ever wanted to make a change and couldn’t seem to make it happen? It could be getting fit, saving money, spending less, or eliminating something from your diet that you know isn’t good for you. You might make a resolution, start a new diet, or join a gym. And you get results for a bit, and then something happens, and you go off plan.
I’ve been reading about how to make change lately. The wisdom out there is that making lasting change is difficult. To make a change and make it last, you might have to give up a story you’ve been telling yourself or a belief you have held on to. You’ll have to create a new version of yourself. If you fail to accept the new you, you will likely revert to your old behavior, which is why change is hard. BTW, “change is hard” is a belief, and, like all beliefs, they serve us until they don’t. The problem is that we sometimes forget to replace the not-working belief with a new, more powerful belief that serves your new you. So, when you hear something like “change is hard” ask yourself, “is it?” Is that the belief that I want to keep?
If change is something that interests you, I invite you to see an episode of Queer Eye: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZMrivD2Aok. I first found out about this new version of the show during the pandemic from an episode of Rich Roll that featured Karamo Brown, who is the show’s culture expert. Sometimes a belief we have about ourselves needs a little reframing. Karamo comes off as the friend you want to have when you are going through a tough issue. https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=864282454395656 If this show doesn’t make you shed a tear, I don’t know what will.
If you want to make a change, do you do it fast or slow? Do you rip the band aid off or gently peel it back? I have tended to make drastic changes when I wanted results. I need to see changes quickly or I lose interest (https://health.clevelandclinic.org/75-hard-challenge-and-rules). This may or may not be the way to make lasting change. Sustainability may make more sense. Make incremental changes that you can live with that get you toward your goal, but don’t make your life a living hell.
What if the challenges before us are of our own creation? You’d have to accept that you are the actor, director, the creator. Show me a struggle in your life and I’ll show you something important to you; something you value. You could say challenges are a test of our mettle. Or you could look at challenges as a way to see who you are. So, what would be the pros and cons? If you are the creator of your life and the head storyteller, you’d have to take credit for (accept) the good and the bad. You might want to reframe the “bad” as something that got you to where you are today. Don’t like something about the way things are going? Make a change.
Have a great month,
David ⭐️
PS: Rich Roll with Karamo Brown ~ here is the whole episode: https://youtu.be/Ril-W6qKySI
