Yesterday, I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.
Rumi
Change is a critical ingredient in our thriving. It is the only way to get the best out of ourselves over time.
But in all honesty, personal change is a complicated process for everyone. Sadly, it gets more challenging and frustrating as we grow older. It is harder to overturn the things we have done and identified with for much longer.
Here are essential drivers of personal change that will make it easier for you to decide, commit and pursue a long-term positive transformation journey.
1. Take Responsibility For Your Situation
We all fall into the trap of excusing our shortcomings by blaming others. It could be our parents, bosses, siblings, the devil or even God. This blameshifting is often our first response to pain, loss and failure. Personal change begins when you realize you are where you are because of you. You have somehow created your own circumstances, irrespective of what they are. That means you are the only one who can overturn reality by deliberately changing your everyday thoughts, choices and actions.
2. Chop Cliques and Design Your Destiny
Today’s way of life promotes aping and idolizing. There’s pressure to band, unify and create insensible belonging. We are constantly nudged to look, feel and live like others. In so doing, we forget that our personal journeys are distinct and should be self-determined. Realizing this uniqueness and independence helps us define distinct paths and customize our life journeys. We stop copying and competing. In so doing, we discover our true selves, unique gifts and unlimited capabilities.
3. Pursue Happiness Instead of Pleasure
Distinguishing pleasure from happiness brings clarity on what makes a good life. Often, we mistake pleasurable moments for happiness. However, the things that bring us true happiness are the ones we don’t enjoy doing, like exercising, eating clean, studying, parenting, career or business building. Once we progress on something we consider hard, we find a sense of achievement. This brings forth feelings of joy and success as we continue improving. Given this, always choose the more challenging path, not the momentary indulgence.
4. Delay Gratification to Compound Benefits
Our world is full of easy choices. Yet, the easier the option, the tinier the reward. The pressure to enjoy instantaneously has made choosing without prioritizing short-term delights difficult. Thriftyness and other forms of extreme self-denial aside, we should mostly opt for what offers greater and discounted future returns against short-term enjoyment. Because the easier path eventually results in enduring hardships. The beginning of life change is knowing that lasting success is built on compounding efforts and returns. Making endless choices that limit enjoyment for now, to experience more in the future, should be an all-time response for everyone.
5. Count on Your Effort More Than Luck
Hard, consistent work over time builds competence and experience. Along the way, an opportunity presents itself and suddenly, boom! The meeting of opportunity and ample preparation is what observers call luck. As a matter of fact, everyone can get lucky if only they care to create their own luck. When we cease to believe in empty luck and other forms of divine bounties, the fog that blinds our perspective on how prosperity occurs starts to clear. Developing this clarity lays the foundation for lasting personal growth in different aspects of one’s life.
Life is about choices. A good life is about smart choices. Make yours today!