How Can I Change My Life?

Normally, I start these with here’s a question I get or I have a lot of conversations about… This is one of those questions that is the meat of what they are thinking: HOW CAN I CHANGE MY LIFE? And how do I get the life I want?

And when we ask this question, it is because there’s some big things that are not lining up with the life that we want. Maybe, it is how do I get a spouse, a partner for me? Maybe it is financially; living paycheck to paycheck. Maybe it is your business and you are struggling to break through. We want big changes; how can I have peace and fulfillment?

Most of you know, I’ve been doing this transformation thing with people, facilitating transformation for over a couple of decades (like pretty close to 25). And there are some things that I have had to learn over 25 years of how change really takes place. What is the essence of change, not just small changes, but the big change… and how can it be sustainable? I don’t want you just to change temporarily and then go back to the way you were next week; I want you to experience sustainable, significant, lasting change in your life so that you can live with joy and fulfillment and awesomeness on a daily basis.

The real answer is not the answer everyone wants to hear; everyone wants the easy button. I have one client who I was talking to and he just asked… Why doesn’t God just zap me, like fix me? Come on, we are all human, we have all wanted that BUT the reality is that’s not how it happens. Big change happens in our lives very simply, it is the compound effect. And I know that there is rarely a week that goes by during one one one coaching, group coaching or in the community call that we don’t cover this in some way. Even if the words are not said, the principle of the compound effect comes up…

What is the COMPOUND EFFECT?

Small, Smart Choices + Consistency + Time = RADICAL DIFFERENCE

That radical difference is where you get that lasting sustainable change. And each part of that equation is important So if you want BIG change in your life, there is no quick, easy button. It doesn’t happen fast. Here’s how you do it, I am going to give you the road map here, because too many of us are pretty good at overcomplicating things. And when we can bring it back to the simplicity of this equation, it enables us to get out of the stagnant pool and into action.

We’ve got to live on the edge of courage in action, because hesitation is the destroyer of dreams and destiny; so live on the edge of courage in action.

My coach gave me that phrase when I first started working with him and it is such a gift that I live by today.

Identify the Right Decisions & Right Actions

The big piece here to remember is that they are not huge. It is not like, Hey, I want to get healthy. What’s the right decision… I’m going to work out for 3 hours a day, I’m going on a strict diet and never have cheat days… those are not going to be the right decisions. The right decision is going to be small, so small that you think it cannot bring that big change I am desiring in my life.

Most of you have heard the illustration. I could offer you a penny that doubles every day for 30 days or I am going to hand you a briefcase full of 3 million cash right now… which one would you choose? And our brain would say the 3 million in the briefcase, BUT the penny should be the choice. WHY? It is just a penny. And during the majority of the 30 days, it is nowhere near 3 million dollars BUT by the time you get to day 30… IT IS OVER 5 million.

Above is an excellent example of the power of the compound effect. Small things compounding over time creates drastic results, drastic change. So IDENTIFY the small things. For instance if we go back to the illustration about your health. If you want to make a small but great decision, maybe you will park at the back of the parking lot. Every. Day. Or maybe you are going to take the stairs. Every. Day. Or maybe stop drinking soda or sweet tea. Every. Day. These are small changes that are going to create sustainable, lasting change.

And so identify these small right choices or actions that you need to begin to implement in your life. When it comes to choices, like me, making the decision to say, I’m going to take full responsibility and I’m not going to blame anyone anymore. And just with those decisions, my life has just radically shifted. Now I know that someone could say, that’s not that small and I get it, but it is a simple decision that implemented over time would bring drastic results.

Consistency

This is the secret sauce… because there are some of you out there making the right decisions and actions and YOU DO IT FOR A WEEK… and nothing has changed. Come on. YOU know better than that. And I know this happens, I’ve had conversations: Why isn’t this working, yet? I’ve been at this for 3 months, this should have kicked in by now.

I hired a branding company and know what? It was six months behind the scenes. And when we started doing things publicly on social media and different things. In two years, there’s been a ripple effect with results. It. Took. TWO. Years.

I was having a conversation with a friend this week and he’s been building a business in the background. Not a whole lot of public stuff going on, working with investors, working with a team, building a new product. He’s been at this for two years with no payoff – hundreds of thousands of dollars going in this project and into this business. Literally, he’s getting to that place where almost overnight, the payoff is coming. WHY? Because he made a commitment to do the right stuff, the small things, work the progress, work the product, get a great team, get great investors. He was doing the small straight stuff over time. This is how it works, if you want to build something beautiful, it is not going to happen quickly.

I was talking with another client this week that has been working with me for almost three years now. And when we first started there were a couple of big things that he was like, Man, this has got to change in my life and of course, he wanted it to happen really quickly. But in the end, something took two years and we had a conversation about it and those were radical shifts. It takes time and consistency.

Time

Everyone seems to underestimate that consistency over time will get you the results you want. But time being what it needs to be, not your timeline. You can’t say, I’m going to get this result in 12 months. Because sometimes it takes longer.

Perhaps you have the goal in your business of building your team culture. And you say, we’re going to have team meetings every week to build team culture. YOU CANNOT CANCEL THE MEETING EVERY OTHER WEEK AND EXPECT RESULTS. That’s not consistent. Or maybe you want to have a date night every week and only have one once a month… that is not consistent. Remember, you need time and consistency doing the right activities. And that’s what creates big change, drastic results, sustainable change; this is not rocket science. It is not complicated.

So how are you doing? It’s not complicated and yet, we overcomplicate things. I am trying to simplify and maybe today is just a moment where you can come back and say, I’ve been trying to do BIG drastic changes, instead of identifying the small right choices and actions that need to be done consistently. Maybe you haven’t identified the small right things and you’ve been trying to do too BIG of things. Maybe it was a consistency point; like you’ve identified the right things, but you are not being consistent. Maybe you are being impatient. It is a process and you just need to stay the course. Don’t give up.

You want to change your life, bring it back to the basics, do the right stuff. I hope this served you!! I love you all and this is where you should go out there and give your greatness to the world because somebody needs what is on the inside of you!! Don’t hold back, go and give it away!