10 Must-Dos to Successfully Make Significant Changes
You Have the Strength for Change
Change comes in many forms. It can suddenly be thrust upon you, as in unexpectedly losing your job, and it can also come from within. We’ll focus here on the changes that you decide to make.
The need to change can come from an internal driving force that can no longer be denied and easily inspires action. More often than not, it reveals itself slowly as a growing restlessness, or a feeling that you are being held in place and just can’t find the way or summon the strength to make changes to feel inspired, successful, and whole.
Change, it all its forms, can be confusing, stressful, and downright scary. Know that you have the ability to survive and even thrive in the midst of it. To meet your internal need to change, you need to be truly self-motivated to get started and you’ll need to put in the work. With focus, support, and planning, you can move yourself forward and make the changes you need to make to live the life you want.
Get Unstuck, Get Clear, and Get Positive
The great news about feeling stuck is that you already know you need to make a change. You just don’t know exactly how to go about it or how to minimize your feelings of fear, anxiety, and even loss that can come with it. Embrace this feeling as your starting point and prepare yourself for the process you are about to begin.
Get clear on why you’re making the change and it will serve as ongoing motivation for you. The uncertainty that goes along with change is enough to make us avoid it; clinging to the comfortable and resisting the unknown makes us feel safe. It can also make us feel like we’re living a lackluster life and certainly not the one that we were meant to. Write down your motivation to change and refer to it often as you move through the process and you’ll be more likely to get to your destination.
Having a high level of belief in your ability to change will help create the energy and the opportunity for you to do so. Concentrate on a positive outcome and on the optimism that you’ll have after making this change. Feel the far-reaching effects it will have on your confidence and the increased joy you will have in each day.
Create Your Support Network
Build yourself a team of people that will support you in making changes. Friends and family can be a good place to start, just be certain they are truly supportive and don’t have their own roadblocks or mindsets that they inadvertently share with you.
Your best supporters will be like-minded and like-hearted people that openly allow for you to express your needs and possibilities, and that truly want the best for you. If being supported and held accountable to your plan with regular frequency by someone outside of your family or social circle resonates with you, consider working with a Life Coach.
Explore Solutions
Focus your energy on exploring the changes you need to make and finding solutions that work for you. Reading, journaling, creating lists of pros and cons, meditating, and calling upon your inner voice are different ways to do the mental work necessary to find your answers and create a plan that serves you.
Connecting with people who have successfully gone through similar changes can help build your confidence before you take action. You can learn from their challenges and gain a larger understanding of exactly what it took for them to get through their change. Marvel in their success and draw upon their positive energy, keeping in mind that their answers, solutions, and ultimate path are uniquely theirs.
Make a Plan
Once you’re motivated to make a change and have decided on the path that is right for you, you’ll need to create a detailed plan that outlines the steps you need to take. The more exacting this plan is, with a starting point, end point, and all the steps in between clearly laid out, the more successful you will be. Details should include a timeline that keeps you moving forward at the pace you’ve chosen and should be realistic so you set yourself up for success. Physically writing out a plan and all the details makes you significantly more likely to attain your goals, so grab your computer, phone, or pad of paper and write it all out for yourself.
Work Your Plan, Adjust as Necessary, and Celebrate Your Successes
Review your plan daily or weekly to stay on track and allow yourself to be flexible when necessary. Be kind to yourself through this process and remember that the end goal is making the change that you’ve committed to, not rigidly following the plan. Be prepared to make adjustments along the way.
Be proud of the work you do and the goals that you achieve, even the small ones. Take time to recognize your accomplishments along the way and allow the positivity of each completed task to build momentum and push you forward.
Get to the end. Make the change. Be grateful for your strength and those that helped you.