Change is the spice of life. And a constant companion of life.
Nothing stays the same. Nothing. Your beautiful smile, your comfortable old jeans, and even your favorite celestial sky — it all changes. Some things change by accident and time, others change by intention and work. And it all impacts your energy level, one way or another.
This article is about the change you approach intentionally. This is the change that you have a goal with. This is the change that boosts your energy.
Have you ever been on a quest to change something about yourself that involved subtle changes, and on a day-to-day basis couldn’t tell that anything had changed? On a daily basis, that’s frustrating! It’s even more frustrating when the changes are so subtle, but bear with it — the changes will become obvious over time. However, you get such a thrilling feeling when you stop, look back, and realize you have made great strides. Celebrate!
Celebrating is important not only to acknowledge the process and steps, but also to add joy along the way. Celebrating is a great source of energy.
There are lots of reasons to invoke change in your life. Some change will be by your own volition, and some will be by an outsider’s suggestion (your coach, boss, or doctor, perhaps). You may comply better with the efforts required to make changes if the change is your notion, and you may be more compliant when it’s someone else’s idea.
I have a bunch of questions for you around change, questions intended to get you to think about your situation and whether it’s going to be a success for you. Why have you started a quest? Was it to improve grades, get faster at your sport, lose weight, change a job, or learn a skill for the heck of it? Is your reason for starting on the change compelling? Are you following a trend you aren’t sure is for you? Or, are you resisting the change and only doing it because someone “made” you?
The answer to that question of why start makes a huge difference to your enjoyment of the process and compliance with the steps you’ll take to make the change. Either way, celebrating the progress and the wins is critical — even when you are enjoying the process and seeing the progress.
I had a coaching client who I challenged to start exercising. When my suggestion met resistance with the excuses of “I don’t have time, and I’m so out of shape!” I suggested two things: walk five minutes a day, and strive to fit into an outfit you love but haven’t been able to wear for awhile. Well, my client laughed at our next call reporting she couldn’t walk five minutes, that felt stupid, so she walked 10 minutes a day instead — initially. After a couple of months she was walking 20 minutes daily, and was able to wear that favorite outfit. She found she really loves the walking and the improved health and stamina. Putting the outfit on was an act of celebration that induced even more celebration!
I’ve noticed that when people look forward to the results but don’t like the process, they find excuses to not follow through. Obvious, right? It can also be challenging to stick with it even when you want the results and like the process. I tell ya, celebrating the wins is the way to go when you want to see success. Make the celebrations big so the enticement is strong enough to overcome any resistance to the process.
I’m especially into celebrating wins when it comes to fitness — losing weight, starting or augmenting an exercise regime, or fixing a health issue that comes from an unhealthy lifestyle. When you feel better about yourself and have more energy, feel more fit, and are able to stop the illness treatment, it’s much easier to continue with a change regime. Celebrating the stages of your progress is still important.
Another pointer to help you adopt and stick with a change program is to join a group that’s also pursuing the same change. There’s something about a group effort, the group celebrations, and the accountability that makes the process more palatable and thus more successful. The social aspect doesn’t hurt either! Be sure, though, that you ingrain the process and the correct steps so that you can continue with the “new”, healthy lifestyle — be that diet, exercise, or meditation — a sustainable change.
My husband and I have started taking walks together after dinner so we can get in “enough steps” by the end of the day. We each have different step goals, but we still enjoy the little, good natured competition around reaching our respective goals. When he offers to do a task for me I’ll tease that he’s doing that only to get more steps in so he can reach his goal sooner. We laugh. That gaming makes the process that much more enjoyable. Walking with someone also adds pleasure to the activity and developing evening ritual.
The most successful self-development I’ve seen uses this joiner attitude. Want to learn a new language? Start or join a “language table” where you meet with others who are practicing this language over dinner weekly. Maybe signing up for a formal class will work for you even better, for starters. Consistency, persistence, and practice will pay off. A trip to a country that speaks the language you learned is a great way to celebrate that success.
Years ago I learned Spanish so I could speak to the locals in Puerto Rico where I would be embarking on, and disembarking from, a cruise. After two, eight-week courses I felt pretty good about my novice abilities. When my teacher commented that she still couldn’t keep up with the fast-paced speaking of Puerto Ricans I laughed, being grateful she hadn’t shared that sooner. I was able to communicate the basics adequately and was glad I had made the effort to learn. It’s time to beef up my Spanish, and French. A friend and I are going to do the Camino de Santiago de Compostela (a 30-ish day pilgrimage, the most popular hiking route being from France through the Pyrenees to the northwest coast of Spain) in the fall of 2017, and I’d like to be able to have some rudimentary language skills. I feel a couple of language tables coming into my life.
One of the most challenging changes revolves around eating. The best diet programs, for example, teach you what to eat and why so you can eat healthy meals wherever you are, or whoever you are with. If the changes you are making are big, you’ll do yourself a favor by seeking out others striving for the same eating style.
Avoiding grain or sugar, or maybe meat or any animal product? Joining other like-minded diners will help you learn how to eat without the food you are banning from your life, and help you avoid the temptation associated with dining with people who aren’t avoiding it, or worse yet seeking it out. Each meal you take without your verboten food deserves a celebration — a shout out on Facebook, a call to a good friend, or even a happy dance.
Each successful meal lifts your mood, and each celebration boosts your energy. Yay!!
So, what about learning programs? Can you tackle those with satisfaction and success? Learning how to paint, ride a motorcycle, or even to put brakes on your car fit into this category. Do you challenge yourself with those kinds of changes? What changes do you introduce into your life? How is your success rate at completing them? Is your enjoyment high along the way, and at the end? How do you celebrate that kind of success?
Change is inevitable. Embrace it. Enjoy it! Pursue it. You’ll enjoy your spicy life so much more when you stay in control of the change. Spice is the fuel of energy and joy.
I can just hear you hollering it — “Eureka, I’ve done it!!”