Create Excitement and Change Your Life

Majestic and dramatic life changes are achievable for each and every one of us. One step at a time, with constant action and deliberate focus.

I’ve dedicated myself to making some serious changes since the start of the year, both in my physical life and in my heart and mind.

When looking up that hill at the beginning of the journey, it’s hard to get started. Along the way there have been many times when I thought about giving up. It was taking too long, and I couldn’t be bothered wading through the mud to get to the solid ground.

But I’m so amazingly glad I’ve kept going.

These last few weeks have brought me brilliant clarity in my perspective on daily life, the universe, and everything. I’ve realised just how grateful I am for everyone and everything I have surrounding me.

My family and friends are amazing, and even though I’ve been a bit of a hermit and buried myself in my changes over the last few months, they’ve all stuck around and provided me countless hours of support, distraction, stress relief, and a sounding board for my ponderings about the universe.

Wanting to Change

Eight months ago, back at the start of this year I was not exercising, eating healthy, or investing any time or energy in my passions, my dreams or my future. Plus I was almost $20,000 in debt.

I had been in this rut for a few years, steadily sinking deeper into the comfort zone. Every day I was becoming more and more frustrated that change wasn’t occurring. Everything seems difficult when you’re working hard just to pay off credit card interest and not really getting anywhere toward doing what you would love to be doing.

The daily grind can really begin to get you down if you have no solid focus on the goals you’d like to be achieving. I spent the entire of last year wanting so desperately to get my life back on track, but not actually taking the first steps toward setting goals and moving actively toward them.

I spent too much time looking ahead at the months of change required, instead of the steps right in front of me, and I didn’t have the patience to slog it out.

I had myself convinced of the (deluded) idea that everything would  just work out fine on it’s own.

This positive thinking is great, you need to be ready to open your mind to the possibility of change.

But it’s not enough.

Now I understand that with a conscious choice to move forward, everything IS working out perfectly.

Taking action is the key.

Making the Choice

For this to happen, you first need to make the choice that you want to change. This comes down to “comfort versus need”.

When you’re warm and comfy in bed and you need to go to the bathroom, you’ll stay warm and comfy in bed until the need to go to the bathroom is greater than the comfort of your warm bed.

You may have desires or needs, but if you’re comfortable, you won’t make a change. There’s no need to change if you’re comfortable.

But once things become uncomfortable, and your need to change outweighs the comfort of your current situation, you will make the change.

You need to push yourself out of your comfort zone. Explore the ideas of what might be possible if you were to make some moves.

Tease yourself with the possibilities.

Ask yourself why you keep putting up with a lifestyle that is significantly less than you deserve.

Do you allow society, or the environment, or other people to dictate how you should live your life?

Well… enough of that!

You decide how you live.

I arrived at this point once I realised every waking moment was spent wishing for change, feeling guilty for making excuses, and regretting my lack of action toward the life I am meant to live.

Creating Excitement

How do you get excited about making changes? When everything seems too daunting and the future looks bleak, there’s a simple (not easy, but simple) two part formula that will allow you to actually look forward to change.

1. Be grateful for what you already have.

I can not emphasize this enough! 🙂 Gratitude is such a powerful force, I was underestimating just how much it would change my view on the world. Taking the time daily to reflect on the resources and support you already have in your life helps you to understand that you already have everything you need to make a change.

The excuses will begin to fall away from your ideas, and “I don’t have enough time” becomes “I am now making time for this”. Barriers begin to fade into thin air, and “I don’t have enough money” becomes “I’m going to spend less on X so I can spend more on this”.

Allowing yourself to be thankful for the abundance around you leads you to realise that you really do have enough already, and the excuses about not having enough are based on the choices you make on what you do with those resources every day.

When you believe you already have enough, you’ll always be happy, no matter what challenges lay ahead.

2. Decide what you want.

Without a goal in mind, you have no direction to aim for. If you don’t know whether your path is to the left or to the right, how do you take the first step?

You won’t. You’ll keep hesitating, and you’ll keep wondering whether or not you’re making the right choice.

Make the choice first.

Spend a little bit of time deciding what it is you’d like to change in your life. What do you worry about every night before bed? What do you constantly think about while you’re under the shower first thing in the morning?

This can be a good way to get in touch with the things you may want to change or act upon. What are the things that are holding you back from being free to explore your universe with passion and excitement?

These are the goals you are soon going to accomplish! 🙂

Getting Started

I spent a lot of time hesitating about taking the first step, and this held me back from actually getting started.

Well, I’ve learnt not to worry about that.

Why?

You took that step when you made your decision. You decided on your goal. You’re already off on your journey!

Indecision grows from not being sure of what you want to achieve. Once you have a goal in mind (even if that goal is just “moving forward”), things begin to change.

My New Years resolution at the beginning of this year was the shining light of those goals formulating in my mind. It was the concrete decision to start making that change, shifting my mindset to be excited about taking the first step.

This year has been interesting, to say the least. It hasn’t been all rainbows and unicorns. There has been plenty of doubt and hesitation while I have refined my goals and worked toward understanding my dreams.

This can take time, and as you progress down the path of uncovering your dreams, you’ll begin to understand that these dreams will also change over time. Nothing is written in stone, and you’re allowed to change your mind whenever you like.

As you gain momentum, you’ll begin to realise that the flexibility of your goals and dreams is exactly what makes this new perspective fun and exciting.

Anything is possible, and it’s the journey that’s enjoyable, because all your goals become part of the big long journey of life.

I jumped into this with a simple financial goal of paying off my debts, and emerged with a range of other goals like fitness, self-education, focus and meditation, and contribution to the community. I don’t need to justify these to anyone, other than being honest with myself about the fact that I truly want them to be a part of my life.

Explore your ideal world. What does it look like? What does it FEEL like?

It’s your life, and they’re your dreams.

Take control of them. They are the puppets of your soul, and your heart is holding the strings.

Let your heart out to play, and your dreams will show you their magic.

Staying on Course

Once you have some forward motion, doubt will creep back to hassle you at various stages.

This is normal. This means you’re ON THE RIGHT TRACK.

It’s easy to get lazy and tempted with the idea of sinking back into your old habits.

Because they were comfortable.

They’re also not taking you anywhere new.

Having your goals clearly visible (and updated) can help to keep you inspired and on the right track. Another big help is having the support network of friends or family around you that can motivate you to keep moving.

An important part of this support system is that you first must be open and honest with yourself about what your goals and dreams are. If you’re not confident about these, and you don’t believe them yourself, then it’s not possible for anyone to support you in making them a reality.

Be honest with yourself about what you want, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Live and breathe your goals and dreams.

Spend every waking moment obsessing about how they’re becoming a reality.

Belief in yourself is the fire that will burn away the doubt. It’s the scarecrow that will scare away anyone who wants to tell you you’re being silly.

Don’t let ANYONE convince you that your objectives are impossible, not even your closest family or friends.

But let them try.

You decide what you want to achieve, and you decide that it’s possible!

In 8 months, I’ve paid off almost $20k worth of debt, and I’m now over that hill into the amazing downhill run of a savings plan. From here, all of a sudden I can see the possibilities of future financial investments and the stability to explore my passions without fear of risk.

I’ve taken the first steps toward healthier exercise habits, walking and running. Even in the short time I’ve dedicated to these physical changes, I’ve noticed changes in my energy levels, and a growing enthusiasm for pushing on to greater challenges.

One of the things I’ve been exploring lately is what I think I would regret if tomorrow was not mine. One of these regrets has been plaguing me for the better part of a decade, and I’ve made the decision to explore it in full force. With the first class tonight, I re-invest in myself and my consciousness by diving back into the wonderful disciplinary world of the martial arts.

I’ve dedicated more energy to my music projects, which deserve much more of my time than I have been giving them recently. This is a definitive passion for me, and realising this has allowed me to rekindle my very strong connection with music again. Making the choice and setting the goals has brought this part of my life up to to full speed again.

I write this not to boast. These words are dedicated to you and your unexplored challenges, to offer you encouragement if you’re hesitating to make changes in your life.

At the beginning of this year I was looking into the face of a range of mixed challenges and limiting beliefs. Once I made the decision to change and the ball started rolling, the limiting beliefs have begun morphing into positive reinforcements that have slowly begun showing me the possibilities, laid out around me as far as the heart can reach.

Spend some quiet time allowing your mind to let go of doubt. Embrace all the unfinished ideas and imperfect notions you keep hidden from the world.

Allow your heart to run wild and free through the possibilities of tomorrow…

… but make a change today.

HERE’S A THOUGHT:

What are three things you’re grateful for right now?