How are you doing with your transformation? Are you moving forward at a rewarding rate? Or have things slowed down recently? Is your life visibly changing the way you want it to? Or are you still stuck with the same problems?
Although you've made good progress in the beginning, are you now stalled?
It’s a very frustrating place to be, because you get yourself and everyone else caught up in your hopes. You've imagined how your life will be when you've completed your transitions. You can see the benefits: a healthier lifestyle, a much larger income, more satisfying relationships, a much more satisfying workday, and the pride of knowing that you are doing exactly what you have always wanted to do.
It’s frustrating for another reason. Because although you can see the finish line, you are standing still. You have each put in tons of hours to develop new skills and change your habits. You have studied programs that are relevant to your success, and have done very well with them.
So why have you stopped?
I can’t say I know the answer for each of you. I’m sure there are many reasons. But I suspect one cause in every case. You have done everything you could do comfortably and have arrived at a place where you’ve never been before. Any new step forward now is a step out of your comfort zone.
If you want to change your life for the better, you have to accept the fact that you can no longer do the same old things the same old way. Making a commitment to change is a big step. It usually occurs when something has happened to make you realize that you are unhappy with some aspect of your life and an inspirational leader fires you up.
And the charge that you get from deciding to change may keep you going through the early stages of your transformation. It can energize you to read a book, take a course, and even go through all the details of setting up a new business or lifestyle.
All those preparations are necessary and good — but they amount to nothing unless you are able to get your dream started.
And getting your dream started — actually kicking your dream life into action — is new territory. New means strange and strange means uncomfortable.
If you feel that you’ve made pretty good progress but are currently stalled, you need to admit to yourself that you have probably slipped into a comfort zone — a way of seeming to be making progress without really getting anywhere — and do something to get yourself out of it.
What you need to do is take action. Nothing you can tell yourself, nothing you can say to others, nothing you can think or feel or imagine is going to get you out of the mental fog you’re in. The only thing that can rescue you is ACTION! That physical, get-up-and-do-something action.
Maybe you know what that is. Maybe it’s a difficult meeting that you’ve been putting off. Maybe it’s a phone call that you've been dreading.
If you know exactly what it is, do it. If you don’t know, or aren’t sure, I’ve got the next best thing: Act "AS IF" you do know. (Because you do!)
Enlist any or all of the steps below that work for you:
- Awareness of being in this gap is the first step toward making progress. Step one is already accomplished!
- Begin by making the commitment to yourself to start writing down ideas daily. Analyze the situation of where you are now. Go to a quiet place where you are relaxed and undisturbed and start envisioning and even writing down your plan!
Putting it on paper makes it so much more real. Telling your plan to someone else makes it even more real! And you become accountable! - Look back on past successes. What strategy did you enlist then? Using this same strategy will serve you this time as well. You know what works for you. Stop listening to how others think you should proceed and start listening to your own intuition.
- Adjust your attitude and your outlook. No problem can be solved by the same attitude that created it.
- Next, take small baby steps to your goal. You've heard it before, by the inch it's a cinch, by the yard, it's hard.
- Enlist the support of those people on your support list. These are the person or people who believe in you and will provide safety while you move out of your comfort zone.
- Now look periodically back at your progress and see what is working and what is not. Make adjustments along the way. Be adaptable!
- Make plans for the inevitable pitfalls and setbacks. They will happen. But being aware of them, able to identify them as they emerge, and then respond positively is the key to your success!
I know you will make it happen!
Make a commitment today, and in a few short weeks you will get your goals going again, even if it means entering you "discomfort zone". Put aside those feelings of distraction, dismay, inhibition, or just feeling unsure.
Ask yourself! WHAT IS MY DREAM?
Don’t put off the success you’ve been working and are on track for. Take that first step today and give yourself the jolt you need to make that final change.
Carrie Jacobs is a Certified Life Enhancement Coach, trainer, and author. Are you ready to achieve more? Imagine what's possible with a coach on your team! For information and resources please visit:
www.carriejacobs.com
