Are you open to Change?

One of my favourite quotes of all time is the Henry Ford classic: “If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ll always got.” I think it was Albert Einstein who said “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again; expecting different results!” I have a lot of time for Albert Einstein; anyone who can achieve what he did, with hair like that – is pretty impressive!

Both Henry and Albert agree: to GET something different, you have to DO something different.

This year’s only just started. It’s brand new and filled with opportunity. Now’s the perfect time to ask yourself: “What do I want to change? How can I improve my life?”

A very simple exercise to help with this is to make two lists. First, what do you want MORE of in your life? For example – maybe you want more money, or more time-off, more time with family, more fun, more travel etc. And second, what do you want LESS of in your life? Less stress, less work, less debt, or less junkfood (just to get you started).

Once we’ve got our lists written out we have to face an uncomfortable truth: and that is that change happens by choice, not by chance. We have to choose to change, otherwise it won’t happen.

In his book “The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth” John C Maxwell says: “The difference between where we are and where we want to be, is created by the changes we are willing to make in our lives.”

So, take a look at your lists: what changes do you need to make to see progress in these areas? What changes are you willing to make? What do you need to start doing and stop doing?

Let’s say one of the things on your ‘more’ list is money. What do you need to start doing to achieve that? Perhaps you need to change your job or upskill. Maybe you need to start reading some books on money, or spending time with successful people. On the other hand, what could you stop doing to achieve the same result? I have a friend who’s saved over $10,000 in 12 months because both she and her husband stopped smoking (as an example).

What about ‘less stress’? Well, the first step would be to identify your stress factors. What stresses you out? Maybe you need to start taking a step back from certain people for a while. Perhaps you need to improve your time management or stop working such long hours.

As you work your way through your two lists make some notes beside each point about what to start, and what to stop.
Remember – change is the key, without change, nothing changes (that’s deep!)

If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got; and according to Einstein, if you don’t agree with that – you’re crazy!