Tag Archives: change

“You can’t start the next…”

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“You can’t start the next chapter if you keep re-reading the last one.”

—Author Unknown

Imagine a book based on  your life, with a Table of Contents that looks like this:

QC #826How likely would you be to keep reading the same chapter over and over again?

Although the answer seems obvious, many people live their lives this way, where “today” looks a great deal like many of their yesterdays.

EXERCISE:

If today’s scenario is even a bit familiar, consider telling a new life story by using Stephen Covey’s “Begin with the End in Mind” habit. Work your way backwards to write about the page-turning journey that got you there. I hope it is a best seller!

“The life you have led doesn’t…”

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“The life you have led doesn’t need to be the only life you have.”

—Anna Quindlen, American author and journalist

QC #788photo from www.lionsroar.com

One of my favorite movies is Ground Hog Day with Bill Murray. I always laugh as he lives February 2nd over and over again.

Through countless chances, he tends to make many of the same mistakes over and over, which leaves him in the same place as the previous day.

Eventually, he learns that his future can be altered for the better.  By choosing actions that are consistent with his commitment, he takes new and better actions that lead him to a different future, where in the end, of course, he “gets the girl.”

EXERCISE:

Take the time today to examine the life you have lived and determine what you wish to continue and what you wish to change. Select a close friend, family member, mentor, or coach to examine what you discover. Consider developing a plan over at least 90 days, to make the coming years more fulfilling and remarkable.

“Awareness is the greatest agent for change.”

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“Awareness is the greatest agent for change.”

-Eckhart Tolle, Canadian Author and Spiritual Leader

 

Photo from Flickr by Miguelanger Guedez

Photo from Flickr by Miguelanger Guedez

Although we live in a world that is constantly changing, I would suggest that much of our internal worlds remain the same.

Examine your own attitudes and beliefs about the world around you and you will likely notice that most have remained relatively constant for years, and perhaps throughout your entire life.

Examination and internal exploration are key in enhancing our journey of self-awareness. This  allows us to determine if and to what extent our long-standing beliefs and perspectives serve us optimally.

In the event they do not, this new awareness can act as an agent of change as Eckhart Tolle suggests.

EXERCISE:

What daily habits, rituals, behaviors, and practices can aid you in the development of your awareness muscles, that support positive change in your professional or personal life?

Here are some strategies to consider:

  • Journaling
  • Meditating
  • Prayer
  • Reflective walks in nature
  • Reflective forms of exercise, such as Yoga
  • Deep Breathing

Feel free to reply to this message to share your own self-awareness practices.

“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.”

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“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” – Anne Frank, diarist and Holocaust victim

Photo from Flickr by Symphony of Love
Photo from Flickr by Symphony of Love

If you happen to watch the news these days, it sure looks like the world could use some improving. You might ask yourself, “Who am I to tackle such a matter? I am only one person in the world and its challenges seem infinite.”

One strategy that comes to mind is related to that old saying, “How do you eat an elephant?” If you’ve never heard this before, the answer is, “One bite at a time.”

Exercise:

Examine the areas of your own life, including your health, your family, your local community, your workplace, and others that come to mind where you can seize this moment to take a small or big bite and improve your piece of the world.

If we all did this together each day, imagine how much the whole world would improve.

we are challenged to change ourselves

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“When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.”

– Victor Frankl, Austrian psychologist and Holocaust survivor

Image from likesuccess.com

Image from likesuccess.com

 This has been a particularly challenging week for a number of my clients, colleagues, friends and even family members. Unfortunately many of the situations they found themselves in were not within their control.

As Ari Weizweig, the CEO of Zingerman’s said, we’re not always living on “planet fair.” Feeling the upset and acknowledging it is a key first step to experiencing freedom from anger that could continue to poison our perceptions, attitudes and relationships.

Assuming the responsibility to change yourself in such situations means you are going to move forward and work toward a positive value-centered future as quickly as possible.

Exercise:

Acknowledge at least one upsetting event in your personal or professional life where you are not able to change the situation.

Determine how you will change your perception, attitude or behavior and regain the freedom to move confidently forward in your life.

“Sometimes in the winds of change, we find our true direction.”

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“Sometimes in the winds of change, we find our true direction.”

—Author Unknown

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Image from Flickr by epSos.de

Here in Michigan we pay particular attention to the weather. January was the snowiest in history and the temperatures were as cold as I’ve ever experienced. The weather forecast includes a metric called “wind chill” or “the wind chill factor, which is a combination of the actual temperature along with the wind speed, to provide a measure of how cold it actually feels.

Today we are all experiencing the winds of cultural and political change at a far brisker pace – personally, professionally, and perhaps even globally.

Exercise:

In the coming days, how can you either lean into or go with the winds of change to find your true direction? Consider the possibility of adding your own breeze to sweep you toward your destiny.

“When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.”

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“When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.”

—Viktor Frankl, Austrian neurologist and Holocaust survivor

Image from Unsplash by Maria Thalassinou

Very few days pass by without each of us experiencing at least a few upsets. It is very common for our desires to be unfulfilled or our expectations to be thwarted by outside events. One way to navigate these bumps in the road is to look inward at our attitudes, so we can maintain our footing and continue to move ahead.

Exercise:

What are a few upsetting or undesirable situations in your professional or personal life that you are unable to change at this time?

What do you need to do to rise to the challenge of changing yourself, in order to make the best of these difficult circumstances?

#59: “Progress is impossible without change…”

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“…and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.”

– George Bernard Shaw

I heard once that the reason many of us resist change is because we are afraid of losing something. It may be the fear of losing the familiar (better the devil you know), fear of losing control, or simply the fear of losing a relationship we have come to know.

But what if we look at the flip side: the opportunities, the things we have to gain? Perhaps if we not only acknowledge that change is constant, but fully embrace it, even intentionally cause it, we can live fuller and more satisfying lives.

Exercise:

Where are you resisting change and maintaining a closed mind?

How can you develop a more open perspective to welcoming change in your world?

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#49: “Change the way you look at things and the things you look at change.”

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 – Wayne Dyer, self-help author and motivational speaker

We have all heard the phrase “perception is reality.” But what if we are only our perception and there is no fundamental reality?

One way to test this idea is to see if any reality can exist if no-one perceives it. If a tree falls in the woods … you know the rest.

I’m not really interested in discussing semantics but in discussing the practical implementation of ideas. Do they work and are they applicable in our world?

Look at great thinkers like Einstein and Edison for similar wisdom to Wayne Dyer’s: what we see as problems can be opportunities. Failure can be just another way not to do something.

Exercise:

Look at two or three difficulties you’re currently facing in a more optimistic, creative and novel way. How can you change them simply by changing the way you look at them?

Quotes are posted on The Quotable Coach a week after being sent out by email. To get the latest quotes straight to your inbox, pop your details in the sidebar to the right.

#45: “Not everything that is faced can be changed…”

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“…but nothing can be changed until it is faced.”

– James Arthur Baldwin, author and activist

Like most people, I do a lot of thinking about the world: about what I like and about what I don’t like. This includes thinking about myself. Thinking is a starting point for changing something in our world and in ourselves.

As this statement suggests, not everything can be changed. Rather than seeing ourselves as weak or powerless to change things, we must move beyond thinking to acting on our commitments. We need to act, alone or together, to change the things that we can.

Exercise:

Where in your world can you move beyond thinking about change and face it head-on to realize the change you desire?

Quotes are posted on The Quotable Coach a week after being sent out by email. To get the latest quotes straight to your inbox, pop your details in the sidebar to the right.