Everywhere we turn these days, we’re bombarded with “life-changing” promises. Books, seminars, lemon-water, coconut oil, apple cider vinegar, step-by-step programs for success and more.

I’m weary and wary of all these promises: “You gotta try it, it totally works!”

What I believe to be true is that what will change the life of one person will do diddly squat for the next.

And what I see—a lot—is a much greater attraction to the easy “quick fixes” than to the harder stuff. It’s easier to experiment with a month of lemon water or oil pulling than it is to commit to a month of running or yoga.

“Hey, you know that deep pit of anxiety that you carry with you every day, but you don’t really notice it until it’s all consuming and completely ruining your life? Wouldn’t it be great if you could put coconut oil on that?” ~ The 2nd City Project

I’ve tried all sorts of things, with limited results. For me, the only thing that has had a real and lasting effect has been meditation. But I have friends for whom yoga has been the thing, while others swear by running, or by a gratitude journal or by a gluten-free diet.

It’s different strokes for different folks.

But I do believe there is one simple formula for changing our lives:

Step 1: Decide to change things.

Step 2: Pick one thing (at a time)—decide what one new habit to develop to help bring about that change.

Step 3: Put some kind of system in place to support you in developing that habit.

Terribly simple—but not necessarily easy: make a decision and then follow through on it.

Changing our habits is generally something we struggle with. And that is why our best intentions to change our lives often fall flat.

Choosing a starting point can often stop us from getting started at all. I say: go for the low hanging fruit. What would be the easiest thing to change that would make a real difference to you? Because improvements in one area can have a knock-on effect on other areas—getting physically fit can increase our mental stamina too; releasing emotional trauma can improve our physical energy.

So, the key is not to allow ourselves to be overwhelmed by all that we’d like to be different. Just choose one place to start. We can read a new self-help book every day, but if we don’t implement the wisdom it teaches us—by taking action—our lives will remain the same.

And drinking lemon water for three days, forgetting to drink it for a week and remembering again over the weekend, isn’t going to have much impact. We need to do it every day. If we don’t form a habit, it’s not going to change our lives.

A system can be simple: buying lemons in bulk once a week, so there’s always some to hand; preparing it last thing at night, or while our porridge is cooking in the morning; putting a reminder in our phone to make it up, if that’s what we need (I do this a lot—reminders, not lemon water).

Accountability helps too—a coach, mentor or buddy who’s on the same path as us. But ultimately, we are accountable to ourselves.

We are the only ones who have the power to change our lives. If there is anything we are dissatisfied with, then we need to empower ourselves to bring about transformation.

We need to stop looking outside of ourselves, stop seeking the right teacher, the right course, or waiting for the right time.

The time is always now. The power is always ours.

Funny bonus: you can put coconut oil on everything.

Relephant:

Don’t Buy the Life-Changing Lie.

How Changing the Story in my Head Changed my Life.

 

Author: Hilda Carroll

Editor: Catherine Monkman

Photo via Flickr