Are you ready to get ready?
We've all had that thought that crosses our mind: "Geez, had I known this ten years ago," or, "I wish I did this last year!"
Of course life is a process and being aware of what we didn't do last year is helpful to get us moving forward this year. We can't progress until we've gained some knowledge, experience, or perhaps had some discomfort. We have to be ready.
We all make bad decisions at times, due often to a lack of intuition. We may be unaware of the impacts certain choices can make, or we simply don't know how to make a different choice. Consider the teenager who feels alone and wants to fit in, and with innocent disregard for the long-term impacts her choices may lead her, chooses to try a cigarette.
We know that heavy drinking is bad, yet sometimes we choose to drink more than is good for us. We know that sugar is bad, yet sometimes we choose to eat way more than is good for us. We know that managing our stress is good, but often we choose to overwhelm our agendas way more than is good for us.
The trouble is, the good things are often the difficult things. They're difficult for mainly two reasons: 1. We're actually not motivated to change. 2. We're missing information or tools that will alter the face of change into one that's not so scary.
If you can identify with having challenges and discomforts in your life that keep preventing you from making progress, then let's first determine something that matters so much to you; something that's worth all your time and attention. Something that makes you say, this difficulty is worth it. To bring greater clarity to this, I'd like to share a personal example with you...
Someone had asked me recently, at what point in your life did you experience "the switch" from the lifestyle you once knew to the lifestyle you live now?
To avoid sharing too many unnecessary personal details, the subject in reference, in essence, is personal growth.
It took me a minute to find my answer. At first I said, I've been engaging in self-development since I was 16 years old.
But this person knew there had to be a more precise point in time when I experienced a shift in mindset. She said, right, you were engaging in self-development since 16, but at what point did you really notice things needed to change?
And then I finally remembered: it's my daughter!
It wasn't until she was over 18 months old that I realized I needed to change. I was dissatisfied with the role model I was being for her. How could I tell her one thing, but then do another? I knew that for me, I wasn't proud of my lifestyle - I was embarrassed by it - and passing that along