Blog 012 – The Secret of Making A Change
BLOG 012 – THE SECRET OF MAKING A CHANGE, IS THERE A SILVER BULLET SOLUTION?
It’s a new year! And with every new year comes new hopes, new dreams, and new desires. It’s the time of the year where we look forward to improving ourselves.
We may have others tell us what they plan on doing in the new year to change themselves, to better themselves, and there are many times we feel caught up in the excitement and begin to make statements as to what we are going to change for the new year.
But like most people, once the new year’s festivities turn into a distant memory the excitement to change also becomes a distant memory.
So, what is the secret to get past the first couple of weeks of the new year and continue making those changes in our lives? Everybody is looking for that silver bullet, that one thing that will make the change very easy.
The reality is, no silver bullet exists!
If you want to make those changes in the new year, change really comes from one of two general reasons. (Note: there are many articles on the internet that identify different reasons why people change, but Managing Made Simple is all about simplifying your managing. Our experience concludes that we see two general reasons for change, and this makes managing the change more simple, cause we all know that some changes are not easy).
Reason 1: You are very passionate and excited for the change.
Passion is one amazing motivator. Passion is something that gives you a considerable amount of energy to get something done. Passion is something that gives you that energy and excitement to make the change. Passion is something that makes time fly by while you are implementing the change. Passion makes you try to do things better and better and gets you excited as you experience better and better results.
Reason 2: You don’t like the result that’s currently happening.
For many, doing a financial budget is done not because it’s an exciting feeling, it’s done because you don’t want to still have a bunch of days or weeks left in the month and no money left. When you don’t have a passion to do something, you need conscious effort to get something done. Effort is tough to do consistently. So, when you don’t have passion to make a change, you need to want to NOT have the current results happen in the future.
So, how do you make those changes and stick with it? First ask yourself, “Why do you want to make this change? Do you have a passion to make this change?” If there is NO passion to make that change, then you know the reason to want to make this change is because you don’t like the results you are currently getting.
It is incredible how powerful this simple question, “Why do you want to make this change?”, can affect your mindset moving forward. If you know you just don’t want to get the same results in the future like you currently get, you don’t have a passion to do it.
So, why is this simple question so incredible, so powerful? It’s because you get clarity on how much conscious effort you need to make this change. Let us say this again because it is so very important, it’s because you get clarity on how much conscious effort you need to make this change. No passion means you need to make yourself constant reminders of the results you have been getting up to now, and how this makes you feel. Sticky notes on the bathroom mirror in the morning, reminders on your phone that pop up when it’s time to do something to get closer to that change, and reminders in any form and in any place that tells you “why” this change is so important, are examples of effective and strategic reminders that are so very important to make these types of changes. This is what motivates you to put in the conscious effort you need to make the change.
Now, if you can’t get motivated to do these reminders, if you can’t get motivated to not want the results you have been currently getting, then the truth is, you don’t really want to make the change. It would be nice to make it, but you are ok with the results you are currently getting. And that too, is ok. With all the things we deal with on a daily basis, there are times we have to look at where we are spending our conscious effort and evaluate whether it is the best place to spend that effort. We may look at something we want to change and conclude that making a change somewhere else is of more importance so we need to correct where our effort is being spent.
Now, we can spend hours and hours reading very detailed articles explaining all the reasons why we make and don’t make changes in our lives, but the more we read, the more confused and frustrated we get. These articles don’t all agree on the same things, which means we are left more confused than when we started. Managing Made Simple want’s to simplify this for you. Just look at what you would like to change and ask yourself “why do you want to make this change?” Passion or no passion? If no passion, then how bad do you NOT want to have the current results happen in the future? If you really don’t want to have the results happen in the future, put constant reminders in key places to remind you the reasons “why” you don’t want the current results. That’s it. It’s not an easy process, but it is a simple process.
Many successful people become successful based on simple processes. It wasn’t easy doing the processes. They needed to put in a lot of effort and remind themselves “why” they needed to do the processes.
Now, my question to you, “Why are you wanting to make a change?” Answer it honestly and you have the greatest opportunity to make that change if it is genuinely important to you.
Remember, you are your biggest champion, your biggest cheerleader. Your second cheerleader is Managing Made Simple.
We Believe In You! Now go and impact your life in the areas most meaningful to you.
If you would like to share a change that needed conscious effort and the reason why, please comment below. If you would like to share your tips and tricks to remind yourself of the “why”, please share them below.
Till We Meet Again …