Be A Force For Creating Positive Change
Is this your year for creating positive change? Do you have goals set out that you want to accomplish, or are you just going with the flow, hoping that everything will fall into place and you will have a great year? Sound familiar? Most of us recognize that there are some areas in our life that we need to improve upon. But where do we start?
I am a firm believer in creating positive change. It can lead a more fulfilling life. I also know that you have little chance of reaching any kind success in anything if you don’t create a plan and goals around any affirmative changes we want to make in our lives. If you want to create positive change in your life of any kind, then you should take the time to plan for it, otherwise you end up scattered and easily distracted by things that crop up in your life. Creating positive change is a wonderful intention, if you follow through with an action plan. If it’s important to you then you need to make it a priority and take some action around those planned changes; otherwise your chances of succeeding are slim to nil.
The reason we have difficulty in making life changes is because most of us are creatures of habit. We continue to do the repetitious things we always did, because it’s easier. Creating positive change in life is a challenge. Are you up to it?
Is It Time For Creating Positive Change In Your Life?
There are definite signs that point you towards creating positive change. Perhaps you want and need a healthier lifestyle or you want to drop some weight. Maybe you want a better job with more money or status. Creating positive change can be as simple as wanting to make more time for you. But where do you start? That’s the dilemma that most people face when they decide to embark on some life modifications.
Perhaps there is some motivation such as the desire to lose weight because you want to feel better or your clothes don’t fit properly. So now you begin with a little motivation and that is the desire for creating positive change. Having the desire and wishing isn’t enough to launch those changes. Now you have identified the “what” and “why” of wanting positive change, and that’s great, but there is the big question of “how?” I would ask you at this point, “Just how badly do you want positive changes in your life?” If you have a serious need to be healthier, slimmer, or to acquire more prosperity to enhance your life and make you happier, then it’s time to launch a plan to ensure those positive changes really do happen. Talk is cheap and nothing will happen if you don’t make a plan and create goals, and actually follow through on them.
Creating Positive Change Is Easier Than You Think
Are you able to visualize an outcome of creating positive change in your life? Can you see the impact of more money, a better job, more personal time, or a slimmer you? Once you can clearly see the benefits that will come your way once you implement positive change, you have the reason. That will generate your initial motivation.
Recognize your reason for wanting change-Don’t just say generally that you want more money or to lose some weight, state the reason why you want, or need these things. Make a clear and logical declaration such as, “I am going to lose 20 pounds because I am overweight, or my clothes are too tight and I want to be able to fit into them.” Make a focused affirmation to yourself and assert the reason why, and what the potential benefits will be to you.
- Create achievable goals-It is extremely important to write down goals that are achievable. If you don’t, you will quickly become discouraged with the results. Be realistic in your approach to creating positive change. For example if you want to lose 20 pounds, do some research and figure out which weight loss and exercise program works best for you. Make a reasonable goal of planning to lose 5 pounds a month. The extra benefit to this type of practical means of losing weight is you have a better chance of keeping it off. If you want a better job, begin by targeting the companies that you are interested in and send out one or two resumes a week. Slow methodical progress creates better results.
- Find your motivation-Creating positive change requires staying motivated. One of the best motivators is to network and connect with like minded people. Sign up to a weight loss or exercise class. Go to job fairs or meet with a job placement counsellor. Start a blog and encourage visitors to tell their stories of success. Other people’s success stories and accomplishments will inspire you and keep you continually motivated to build your own success. If other people can do it, so can you!
- Commit to change-You can’t meet your goals for creating positive change if you don’t have sincere commitment to reach them. Commit to those positive changes to yourself, or to a family member or a loved one, or in your blog. Commitment is the impetus to meeting any goal that you will ever make. Commitment is powerful and is essentially a promise you make to yourself. No one likes to break a promise, so commit.
- Keep a progress diary-If you can’t see where you are going, how do you know where you will land? It’s not enough to create a positive change goal in your head, write it down. Track your progress. When you begin to see that you are making headway in meeting your plan, it will inspire you to keep on going because you are accomplishing something. How many pounds did you lose this month? How many job interviews did you obtain? You get the idea. Write it down, track it and look at your results. Completing a goal and making positive life changing accomplishments is an invigorating feeling. That exciting feeling will make you want to do more to recapture that wonderful sensation of “I did it!”
Here are some great quotes for creating positive change to help inspire you.
“Changes are not predictable; but to deny them is to be an accomplice to one’s own unnecessary vegetation.” – Gail Sheehy “When patterns are broken, new worlds emerge.” -Tuli Kupferberg “It’s never too late-in fiction or in life-to revise.” – Nancy Thayer “There is a time for departure even when there’s no certain place to go.” – Tennessee Williams “Being stuck is a position few of us like. We want something new but cannot let go of the old-old ideas, beliefs, habits, even thoughts. We are out of contact with our own genius. Sometimes we know we are stuck; sometimes we don’t. In both cases we have to do something.” – Inga Teekens “Heroes take journeys, confront dragons, and discover the treasure of their true selves.” – Carol Pearson “If you want to stand out, don’t be different, be outstanding.” – Meredith West “To change and to improve are two different things.” – German proverbBe the best you can be. Creating positive change is a wonderful journey that can bring about powerful, positive changes into your life and help you create the life you always wanted.
© 2012, Linda. All rights reserved.
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Oh man, that first one, the MOST important thing is to set achievable goals! Too often I see people set out to do something major, and end up giving up or not getting their final goal, just part of it. And the reason why is that they didn’t set up, at the very least, milestones along the way so they had something to really measure their achievement so far by, they felt like they weren’t getting anything done towards their big goal, and that was, in the end, what defeated them. When something is too big, it’s easy to give up. Breaking it down, or having that big final goal, with milestones or markers along the way you also set up, makes it so much more attainable in the end. Plus, it helps give you that mentality of forward motion, which as stated in other posts here, is what ultimately can make things really start to happen. Avalanches can start from even just one small stone falling and jarring a larger one *just enough* to get it moving, which in turn jars another one, so on and so forth. Chain reactions of positivity, of forward motion, of energy drawing in more energy.
You are so right Amber. I, like many other people, used to create such huge goals and so many of them, that I had no chance to reaching them in the timeframe I set for myself. Once I learned to create smaller “achievable” goals, wow what a difference it made in my life. When you start checking off those goals, you are filled up with enthusiasm and energy to move to the next. Loved your comment, thanks.
What is that saying? “Expecting different results by doing the same thing is insanity”. I think that is what it is. But it is so true. How can things improve in your life if you do not do anything different? Like you said it is so easy to “want” to lose weight and to make more money, etc but the problem people run into is taking action and making that happen. They get stuck and have no idea how to start. It is more fear based because when you attempt to change it is leaving your comfort zone, and that is scary to many people. But the best way to do it is to inch out of it slowly, and not to jump out or else you will jump back in and cling to it. I admit I have been living in clutter. I know that needs to change but the idea of removing my clutter all in one shot scares me. So I made a vow to spend 15 minutes a day an clean each room or even areas of a room and that helps! Slow and steady wins the race. Excellent methods you listed there to push yourself out of your comfort zone.
Miriam, it’s so true that it is difficult to move out of your comfort zone, but when you do..well the outcome is astounding. Slow and steady DOES win. Thanks
I have had a terrible habit of eating really late at night. When I say eating I mean having a huge snack. Not just something small. However, I am trying to fix that and have nothing more than 2 crackers. I need to still have something to eat or else I will go to bed hungry and I hate that feeling of hunger. But I have to say after eating huge quantities late at night I would wake up feeling irritable and was not overly productive. Since I stopped doing that, I don’t find it to be an issue so much. My next step is to eat a healthy breakfast and to get more exercise. One bit at a time. The slower you change habits, the higher the odds new good habits will stick as well since they become ingrained. I am in complete agreement, slow and steady wins the race.
Jeannie, it’s always so inspirirng to hear about your outlook on progress and your positive attitude comes through on your comment. May all your dreams become real.