Expectations
and the Challenges of Change
Change can be challenging. Change can be difficult. Change is a part of life; and each one of us has a choice: we can choose to live in our comfort zone and wait for change to happen to us, or we can initiate it. The only one responsible for your happiness is you. We can't control the world around us, but we can choose how re-act and respond emotionally to those events. Assume for the moment you are on your death bed looking back at the legacy of your life. Is there something you would want to do differently to change or add to your legacy?
If the answer is yes, the next question is what is stopping you? In most cases people are reluctant to change due to the fear of the unknown, the fear of failure, or some unknown consequence they have yet to experience. Each day of our life brings with it the unknown, and the possibility of "failure", or embarrassment - so wouldn't you rather be the one to choose these situations as best you can, as opposed to simply letting them happen? The choice is yours, but remember, either way they will happen - whether you want them to or not. You have the choice: to be the engineer of these events, or simply to be the recipient. The only thing stopping you is you.
“People
become really quite remarkable when they start thinking that they can do
things. When they believe in themselves, they have the first secret of
success.
--Norman
Vincent Peale
Priorities
We often identify new priorities without acknowledging and understanding that our daily lives are already a reflection of our existing needs and desires - some good, some not so good. The consequence of not appreciating our daily routines means the effort to establish new priorities is doomed to fail. To be successful, we must first seek to understand our current priorities and identify how these will need to change in order to accommodate new priorities.
Begin the process as follows:
- Look at your schedule of daily activities.
- Make a list of what do you do, when do you do it, how long do they last, where do they take place and so on. Now ask yourself why you do each of these activities.
- Itemize the list in order of priority with "1" being the most important
- Looking at the least important activities AND the reasons as to why they are a priority - now decide if you can do away with any of them! The intent is to free up time in your day to incorporate new priorities. It is important to note that although the activity itself may not seem important, nor may the reason, some activities/priorities are habitual. With that said, it takes about 90 days to break a habit and 21 days to start a new one.
The degree to which you are
willing to let go of your lower priorities is a reflection of many factors,
including the habitual nature of the activity, the importance of the new
priorities relative to the old priorities, fear of change, self esteem etc.If
you are willing to sacrifice something old for something new, you are ready to
experience exciting new experiences.