Committing to Making the Change

Yeah! The calendar has flipped over, and it is the beginning of a new month.  You may feel excited at the possibilities.  You have so many plans to create change in your life-time to get fit, get the desk clear and your schedule completely on track.  Then a few days pass and you miss a day of working out or eating right, or you don’t have time to handle all of your paperwork so you begin to feel behind.  You begin to feel like you are right back where you started.  Oh well, there is always next month…

NO! Why do you need to wait until the 1 shows up on the calendar again?  You can start ANY day of the month.  In fact, you can start today if you want.  When I recently decided to make a change in how I was eating, I jumped right in on the 10^th of the month instead of waiting.  There are just 3 things you need to do no matter what the number is on the calendar:

1. Determine the feeling you want as a result of the change
2. Make a commitment to make the change
3. Identify your first steps

 How will your life change?

For any change to be meaningful, it needs to make a difference in your life.  The best way to determine that is to consider how your life will improve as a result of taking action.  Will organizing your schedule allow you to have more time with your family?  Will you feel more connected to your work if you create a plan?  Will you have a greater sense of security if you meet a certain financial goal?  Whatever it is you want to change, you want to connect it to something meaningful for you.

For me, when I decided to change how I was eating, I at first thought it was just to lose weight.  When I truly looked at how my life would change if I lost the weight, I was able to connect to a deeper meaning for me.  Losing the weight meant greater sense of movement and ease with my body, a great sense of control and also confidence.  I wanted my mojo back 🙂

 How committed are you to making a change?

Here is the moment of truth.  On a scale of 1-10, how committed are you to doing whatever it takes to make the change?  If you are not able to state at least 8 as your level of commitment, then perhaps this is not the right goal.  You will need a certain amount of resources in terms of time, perhaps money and knowledge or expertise.  Are you able to commit the needed resources?  If not, again this may not the right time for this particular goal.

You need to Make A Plan

Now that you have identified how you will benefit from reaching your goal and you are committed and able to make the change, it is time to make your plan.  It is important to set the goal as a project to be achieved.  This is accomplished by having the end in mind, having milestones to measure your progress and  breaking your goal down into smaller pieces.  You can read more about the exact steps here: http://bit.ly/successfulprojects.

So, no more waiting until the 1^st of the month to get started on any of your goals, you can start today.   What are you going to change and how will it change your life?