How to Change
Know that all meaningful change must come from within., Practice positive affirmation., Take care of your body and mind to make change easier., Recognize the behaviors or thoughts that you want to change., Make a plan of action., Start with small...
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Know that all meaningful change must come from within.
If you don’t trust yourself to change then no one will do it for you.
Real change has to be driven from your own desire to be better, feel better, and have a positive outlook on life.
Change can be scary, but it you love and trust yourself you can get through changes unscathed.
Think of prior big changes in your life.
Are they really scary in hindsight? How well did you handle the changes? What can you learn from them? -
Step 2: Practice positive affirmation.
A positive outlook on life and the future is paramount to enacting change.
You need to first change how you look at yourself before you can change.
Think of it this way – if you want to change your love life to become more open, you’re not going to get very far if you believe “I don’t deserve to be in love.” Erase this negative language from your mind by practicing positive refrains every day, like: “I love myself,” “I can do this,” “I am capable of changing.”Don’t punish yourself or get upset if you have a negative thought.
Instead, replace it with an opposing, positive one.
If you thought – “Women never like me,” counter it with “I haven’t met a woman who I am compatible with yet.” , Even if your goals aren’t related to your body, being healthy and happy will make it much easier to focus on changing yourself for the better.
Make sure that you are eating a balanced diet, getting 6-7 hours of sleep a night, and doing things you love to erase stress., Don’t judge yourself or get upset at your faults.
This is the time to look at your behaviors through a neutral lens, figuring out exactly what about yourself you want to change.
There is a reason you want to change, and you need to do some exploring to find it.
Having clear motivations will make it much easier to change.
Some questions to ask include:
Does this make me happy? What are the facts, not the feelings, about this situation? Why do I want to change? What is my end goal? , This needs to be specific and goal-oriented.
By setting smaller, more manageable goals you “trick” your brain into thinking the task is easier, making it easier to commit to your project.
For example, you might want to reform your love life and become less shy.
Setting small goals makes the larger idea, “change your love life,” seem less daunting.
Step 1:
Think about what you want in a partner.
What attracts you? What doesn’t? Make a list.
Step 2:
Think about what caused relationships to fail in the past.
Start going to the gym, clean up your house, or focus more on work to improve your chances at love.
Step 3:
Commit to going out to bars and social events at least once a week, or make an online dating profile.
Step 4:
Ask one person out for a casual date.
No matter what the answer, brush it off and keep trying. , If you are trying to cut out junk food, it will be incredibly hard to quit eating pizza, soda, cake, candy, and fast-food all at once.
Cut things out periodically, which lets you enjoy your early accomplishments and slowly get used to big changes.
For example, you might start by eliminating soda from your diet.
A week or two later, cut out pizza, then candy, and so on.
It can help to make a schedule, as this will keep you in check.
If you write down that you are quitting pizza on April 20th, you are much more likely to actually quit than if you just say, “I’ll quit eventually.” , What is the minimum you need to do, each day, to make your change stick? This is separate from the long-term goals or plans because it puts you in a mindset every day to work towards your change.
If you want to reform your love life, you might decide to have one extra conversation with a stranger each day, whether on the bus or at work.
This allows you to practice your larger goal without stress or fear.Your quota can be low—all it does is set the bar for you.
You might decide to do 10 push-ups each day, but nothing keeps you from doing 100 some days as well. , This goes against conventional wisdom, which often says that telling someone your goals makes you more likely to pursue them.
However, study after study has found that people feel less motivated to work after announcing their plans because they feel slight satisfaction at making them.The exception to this rule is when working with a group, as working on a goal together frequently makes everyone work harder.
Writing down your goals and motivation and keeping them to yourself is a great way to be “public” about your plans to change without sharing anything., Change is often about stripping away the things that are no longer relevant to your life.
This allows you to focus on what really matters, putting your energy into things that make you happier and healthy.
Take a long look at your life and think about what is non-essential.
What activities do you do that make you constantly unhappy? What projects or appointments do you put off for as long as possible? Is there any way to remove these stresses from your life?Think about little things first – cleaning out your email inbox, canceling you’re the newspaper subscription you never read, opening up your schedule, etc.
You goal is to make more time in your life to focus on yourself, using your new free time to change for the better. , Change takes time, and if it didn’t then everyone would be in constant flux.
You need to commit to your change for months to make sure it sticks.
Know that you will falter, slide back into your own ways, and consider changing your mind.
This is only natural, but quitting your reformation at the first sign of trouble will prevent you from ever really changing.
In order for your brain to develop strong new neural connections that last throughout your life, you need to work on your change for up to 4-5 months.Keep you goal in mind when things get tough.
The amount of time needed to get there is not what is important, the destination is. -
Step 3: Take care of your body and mind to make change easier.
-
Step 4: Recognize the behaviors or thoughts that you want to change.
-
Step 5: Make a plan of action.
-
Step 6: Start with small changes before tackling larger ones.
-
Step 7: Make up a “mini-quota” for each day.
-
Step 8: Keep your plans to yourself.
-
Step 9: Simplify your life.
-
Step 10: Be patient and know that change is not easy.
Detailed Guide
If you don’t trust yourself to change then no one will do it for you.
Real change has to be driven from your own desire to be better, feel better, and have a positive outlook on life.
Change can be scary, but it you love and trust yourself you can get through changes unscathed.
Think of prior big changes in your life.
Are they really scary in hindsight? How well did you handle the changes? What can you learn from them?
A positive outlook on life and the future is paramount to enacting change.
You need to first change how you look at yourself before you can change.
Think of it this way – if you want to change your love life to become more open, you’re not going to get very far if you believe “I don’t deserve to be in love.” Erase this negative language from your mind by practicing positive refrains every day, like: “I love myself,” “I can do this,” “I am capable of changing.”Don’t punish yourself or get upset if you have a negative thought.
Instead, replace it with an opposing, positive one.
If you thought – “Women never like me,” counter it with “I haven’t met a woman who I am compatible with yet.” , Even if your goals aren’t related to your body, being healthy and happy will make it much easier to focus on changing yourself for the better.
Make sure that you are eating a balanced diet, getting 6-7 hours of sleep a night, and doing things you love to erase stress., Don’t judge yourself or get upset at your faults.
This is the time to look at your behaviors through a neutral lens, figuring out exactly what about yourself you want to change.
There is a reason you want to change, and you need to do some exploring to find it.
Having clear motivations will make it much easier to change.
Some questions to ask include:
Does this make me happy? What are the facts, not the feelings, about this situation? Why do I want to change? What is my end goal? , This needs to be specific and goal-oriented.
By setting smaller, more manageable goals you “trick” your brain into thinking the task is easier, making it easier to commit to your project.
For example, you might want to reform your love life and become less shy.
Setting small goals makes the larger idea, “change your love life,” seem less daunting.
Step 1:
Think about what you want in a partner.
What attracts you? What doesn’t? Make a list.
Step 2:
Think about what caused relationships to fail in the past.
Start going to the gym, clean up your house, or focus more on work to improve your chances at love.
Step 3:
Commit to going out to bars and social events at least once a week, or make an online dating profile.
Step 4:
Ask one person out for a casual date.
No matter what the answer, brush it off and keep trying. , If you are trying to cut out junk food, it will be incredibly hard to quit eating pizza, soda, cake, candy, and fast-food all at once.
Cut things out periodically, which lets you enjoy your early accomplishments and slowly get used to big changes.
For example, you might start by eliminating soda from your diet.
A week or two later, cut out pizza, then candy, and so on.
It can help to make a schedule, as this will keep you in check.
If you write down that you are quitting pizza on April 20th, you are much more likely to actually quit than if you just say, “I’ll quit eventually.” , What is the minimum you need to do, each day, to make your change stick? This is separate from the long-term goals or plans because it puts you in a mindset every day to work towards your change.
If you want to reform your love life, you might decide to have one extra conversation with a stranger each day, whether on the bus or at work.
This allows you to practice your larger goal without stress or fear.Your quota can be low—all it does is set the bar for you.
You might decide to do 10 push-ups each day, but nothing keeps you from doing 100 some days as well. , This goes against conventional wisdom, which often says that telling someone your goals makes you more likely to pursue them.
However, study after study has found that people feel less motivated to work after announcing their plans because they feel slight satisfaction at making them.The exception to this rule is when working with a group, as working on a goal together frequently makes everyone work harder.
Writing down your goals and motivation and keeping them to yourself is a great way to be “public” about your plans to change without sharing anything., Change is often about stripping away the things that are no longer relevant to your life.
This allows you to focus on what really matters, putting your energy into things that make you happier and healthy.
Take a long look at your life and think about what is non-essential.
What activities do you do that make you constantly unhappy? What projects or appointments do you put off for as long as possible? Is there any way to remove these stresses from your life?Think about little things first – cleaning out your email inbox, canceling you’re the newspaper subscription you never read, opening up your schedule, etc.
You goal is to make more time in your life to focus on yourself, using your new free time to change for the better. , Change takes time, and if it didn’t then everyone would be in constant flux.
You need to commit to your change for months to make sure it sticks.
Know that you will falter, slide back into your own ways, and consider changing your mind.
This is only natural, but quitting your reformation at the first sign of trouble will prevent you from ever really changing.
In order for your brain to develop strong new neural connections that last throughout your life, you need to work on your change for up to 4-5 months.Keep you goal in mind when things get tough.
The amount of time needed to get there is not what is important, the destination is.
About the Author
Walter Roberts
Walter Roberts has dedicated 11 years to mastering education and learning. As a content creator, Walter focuses on providing actionable tips and step-by-step guides.
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