The Secret to Making Lasting Changes
Think you can't change?
Many of us already know that we need to improve our state of well-being in order to extend our lives as we age. Making changes is traditionally difficult, but the good news is that it's never too late to make changes for the better.
The first step is to understand what's important to you, and then determine the choices and decisions that represent where you want to be. Maybe you want to start a new career, lose weight, stop smoking or start exercising. Whatever the change is, be sure you understand why you want to make the change.
Take a moment to think about a time in your life when you made a successful change or developed a new habit.
What was your motivation for the change?
What was your attitude at the time?
What obstacles or barriers did you have to overcome?
Your level of readiness to change will determine how successful you are, and how much time it will take. Once you make the decision to change, you must practice that new behavior one day at a time until it becomes a habit - a lasting change.
Embracing the concept of change is a big thing, because interestingly, many people think they don’t have a choice when it comes to change.
Why?
For some it's fear, guilt, love, pain, time management or even a court order. What motivates one person may not be the same thing that gets another person to act. Everyone reacts differently to changes, whether voluntary or mandatory.
To start making a change,
let go of certain assumptions or ways of doing things, to make room for new ideas. I like to have my clients break patterns they often aren't even aware can be changed. Such freedom in this realization!
Work on this one day at a time until you feel comfortable.
Change is especially difficult to embrace for my clients who are coming out of years of emotionally and, oftentimes, physically abusive relationships. In this case we take tiny steps toward immediate goals. We have the big picture as a goal post, yes, but the nervous system requires a more delicate approach in this type of healing work.
We begin with finding what is happening within the subconscious, such an integral part of the process, as here is where 95% of our actions and reactions stem from. When we create positive change within the subconscious, we have the strongest, longest lasting results. And that, of course, is the ultimate goal.
To make a lasting change, you start wherever you are and stretch a tiny bit more each time. If you trip and stumble, or experience resistance, identify the cause or circumstances— who you were with, where you were, or your emotional state.
The key is to get up and get back on the path again. You may go back and forward a few times because making a lasting change is hard. Your level of readiness to change will determine how successful you are, and how much time it will take.
But you need to be ready, able and willing to make change happen.
That first Decision is everything.
Sending Courage to all who read this,
~Jewelle
