When you follow the same recipe, you get the same results. Likewise, changing your behavior is the only way to change your life.

However, changing behavior directly is extremely challenging.

Look at how hard it is to lose weight or to stop smoking, yet both have simple solutions: eat less and stop putting cigarettes in your mouth.

While behavior is hard to change with sheer willpower, it can be changed quickly with a change in perspective.

For example, you might find it impossible to lose weight under normal circumstances. But suppose your child needed a kidney transplant to live, and you were the only possible donor. However, the doctor won’t do the operation until you lose 50 pounds. Do you think you could do it?

Not only could you do it, but you’d do it easily. A simple change in perspective made all the difference. 

You don’t need to be forced to make inner changes. You can choose to change your beliefs and perspective to something more useful.

Imagine what you could accomplish by making a few inner changes!

1. Outer changes in your life are the result of changes in behavior.Changes in behavior are most often the result of inner changes. When your thoughts and beliefs change, your behavior is also altered. For example:
 

○ Suppose you decided that helping others was important. You might start volunteering. While you're volunteering, you meet new people and learn new things. You make new friends and perhaps date someone you never would have met otherwise. You might even get a job.  

○ All of this began with making contribution a priority.

 

2. Examine your current beliefs. Are your current beliefs holding you back? Are you certain that the things that you believe are true? Are you aggressively and enthusiastically pursuing your goals each day? Everyone has limiting beliefs. What are yours?
 

○ Your beliefs are like your software. If your software is faulty, you aren’t operating efficiently. 

○ Examine each belief you have and determine if it is serving you or holding you back. 

○ Look at your behavior for clues regarding your inner world. What must you believe to be behaving the way that you do?

 

3. Inner changes change your habits. When you change your thoughts and beliefs, your habits will change, too. When the things you do each day are altered, your results are altered.

 

4. Envision the life you want to lead. When all you think about is your current life, you get more of the same. Spend some time each day imagining yourself in your new life. When this type of life begins to feel normal to you, you’ll start to make outer changes in your life, too.
 

○ The first step is making the big decision about the type of life you’d prefer. Most people never make definitive decisions. Vagueness won’t work. Be specific.

 

5. Monitor your thinking. Negative thoughts bring poor results. If you spend most of your time thinking worrisome thoughts, how can you have a positive life experience?
 

○ Each time you find yourself having a negative thought, change it to something positive.

 

If you want to experience outer changes in your life, start by making inner changes.

Okay. So here are this week's action steps:

1. Think back when you were a teenager and remember a 'thought' pattern that you had about your world (parents, work or school)

2. Identify how that 'thought' changed as you aged.

3. How did that show up in your life and your habits?

Inner changes can be challenging, but they are under your control. As your inner world changes, your behavior will change. As your behavior changes, your outer world will change, too. Try it! You’ll enjoy the results.

Level Up.

~Ilke