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Change: the only
permanent thing in the world...We believe it or not but that's a FACT... There
are these changes which help us be tougher and more distinguished as a
person...ofcourse that has to be a constructive change!!! But there are these
natural changes to which we adapt and there are these "wanted-changes" to which we want to
adapt ourselves... like having a routine lifestyle, or losing some kilos or as
simple as waking up early or as difficult as getting out of some debt... We
might be trying to make time for working on as I call it "MY VENTURE"
— something like writing a book, or renovating a house or preparing for
competition...
These changes take a lot of time, effort and sweat...
See...Whatever our objective is, we know it’s going to make
a big transformation to our life.
That's why we are making an effort towards it... We may have plenty of reasons
to accomplish it … but that’s not always ample.
Ok...Let’s talk on a day to day level; it can be really tough to
steadily take actions that lead towards our goal. For instance, if we’re aiming
to lose 5 Kilos, our aim might seem so far off that it’s hardly worth skipping
dessert today. If we need to pay off say, Rs. 50,000 of credit bills, then that
Rs. 100 Coffee at Barista seems entirely trivial.
Remember, every big
goal, though, is achieved by a whole series of tiny footsteps. Sure, one
dessert doesn't mean much in the context of your whole diet but if we end up
eating dessert every day, we’re pretty soon going to give up on the diet
entirely. Similarly, Rs.100 won’t do much to get us out of debt but a whole
bunch of tiny savings will soon add up.
As I said, we may have hundreds of motives but if we’re
struggling to see the long-term picture, then we can't put-in the 100%
effort...
Let's try one or more of these five tips to help ourselves
see that long-term picture clearly:
Point 1: My WHYs
So, we have a reason to change — probably several reasons.
Grab a piece of paper, or open up a document on your computer, and write down
exactly why this change is important. What benefits are there? What consequences
will there be if we don’t change?
Let’s list our reasons, as bullet-points, if we want, or we can write
a few paragraphs describing how our life will be once we’ve achieved our goal.
It’s a good idea to write this in the present tense, to help make it more
immediate and real.
Here’s my Try:
Losing 5 Kilos means:
·
Being healthier and fitter
·
A new wardrobe!
·
Feeling attractive and confident
Or:
I’m out of debt, and I feel so much happier. I’m sleeping
well at night, and little ups and downs don’t stress me out. So many more
options are open to me now. Moreover, I learned to save!
Point 2: Easy by Default
We all know all change requires work … but the easier we can
make things, the higher our chances of staying on the right path.
We can try to set things up in such a way so that making the
right choice is the default option. For instance, if you’re trying to save up
an emergency fund, set up an automatic transfer out of your checking account
every month — that way, you have to take action to not transfer the money.
Definitely, It’s worth investing some time and energy at the
start of a big change (when our motivation is naturally high) to get good
systems in place. If we’re dieting, you could stock the cupboards with healthy
food, and work out a few easy and healthy meals that you can cook on a regular
basis.
Point 3: What's Next
Sometimes, the finish line is so far away that we can’t
really see it. Perhaps we’re working on a huge project like a book, and we
don’t really have much grasp of when we can expect to finish. Maybe we’ve got a
long way to go in order to get out of debt or reach a healthy weight, and it’s
discouraging to think of how many months or years it’ll take.
Instead of worrying about the finish line, focus on the next
milestone. For instance, if we’re writing a book, our first milestone could be
to write the first 10,000 words; the next milestone might be to reach 25,000
words. If we’re getting out of debt, many experts will recommend the “debt
snowball” method, where you pay off the smallest debt first, then gradually
work our way up.
Point 4: Mark it Up!
Once we've started to succeed, do everything we can to motivate
ourselves to stay on track. One great trick is to put a check mark on the
calendar for every day (or every week, depending on the goal) that we take
action.
Supposing, if the ultimate goal is to write a book, and we've decided that a good way to do that is by writing 300 words every day. That’s
not very much (it’s about a third of this blog post: P) but those 300 words
each day will add up to a 60,000 word book within seven months. To reduce the
temptation to skip a day when we’re feeling unmotivated, check off each day
that we hit our 300 word target: once we’ve got a string of check marks, we
won’t want to break it.
Point 5: Enjoy Achiever!
Once we've reached a major milestone, celebrate! Go out for
dinner, open that good heart out, have fun. We've been saving, so let’s treat
ourselves with a new book or DVD, book a vacation … whatever works for us (and
our budget ;)).
Let other people know, too. Post an announcement on
Facebook, or write a blog post about the success achieved. Almost certainly we
goanna get dozens of “Congratulations!” messages — plus we might just inspire
someone else to start working towards a goal of their own.
Start Changing Better… J
