In what habits do you want to change, I started getting you to think about what aspects of your life will be like in the future – if you don’t change anything. You can look at the whole you, but I find it simpler to take one aspect of “you” – be it work, leisure, relationships, wealth.
Einstein once said:-
“The definition of insanity is to keep doing the same things over and over again and expect a different result.”
If you want aspects of your life to improve, something has to change. The reason to start comparing now and the future is to identify exactly what that change needs to be.
If the future you want is, say, working in a more senior position in your present company, then start identifying the things that future you will need to be able to do. If you lack confidence in any aspect of what you need to be able to do, identify the gap. When looking to the future, be it 1,2 5 or more years hence, don’t hold back. Throw in, “what would the ultimate I could achieve /be doing”
Another reason for looking at things this way, is that our confidence varies in different situations. You may communicate with great confidence with your friends, but at work you find things fall apart. Or you may find you can give a presentation to some new clients for work, but be unable to ask someone you find attractive on a date.
I gave the example in the last post of how I identified my leisure time sliding into a passive blob if I didn’t act. I started new things, and I now speak as someone with interesting hobbies. It comes back to breaking existing habits and starting new ones.
This post is more about reinforcing a general principle, rather than looking at particular skills. To make the effort to learn a new skill, or improve an existing one, you need to be prepared to make that change. Its easy to start, then fall by the wayside. Comparing what you think will exist in the future with what you desire – if you don’t make changes – is a good way to motivate you to start and sustain necessary change.
Change – it is a word that most people reject. People as a whole do not like change. Change means that you have to step outside your comfort zone. Change means effort. Change means a challenge. Change brings fear of the unknown.
But my god we all have the ability to change. To change for the better even if it is the smallest amount of change, we can do it. We can take hold of it and make that change part of our life. And then move on to the next.
A new born child experiences changes every single waking moment of their life – they do not fear it – they want more and more. What happened to that feeling when we “grow up” and become adults. We let life take over and dictate to us. We loose control.
Try this very simple exercise and begin to develop the desire for change again. You’ll be surprised at what you find.
Cheers and smile today at a stranger.
http://thinkofprosperity.com/2007/10/04/get-yourself-out-of-autopilot/
Thanks for your comment and I agree with your sentiments. We can all find simple things to do differently to do each day to get the ball rolling.
David,
Great post. We cannot even begin to solve new problems with old solutions, conventions, and thinking. As you’ve described, we need a paradigm shift.
David