AS MUCH AS I dislike having a personal crisis of any kind (I mean, who doesn’t?), I admit most have done me a lot of good. Nothing quite transforms you like getting through your worst and most difficult moments.
We’ve all heard about that drop in the ocean. One drop. What’s one drop?
What’s one extra pound on the scale? That one bit of juicy gossip, that one small excuse. Does one really even count?
Maybe not. One is no. big. deal.
But what if I want to make one real change, even if it’s small, one that sticks?
Now THAT can be a big deal, because change counts.
Not everything in life is a big life moment. There are everyday low points too, ones you want to overcome.
Constantly overwhelmed? Tired, day after day after day? Bad mood, bad attitude, woe-is-me? When you hit that low (you know the one I’m talking about) you realize: if things don’t get better, they’ll get worse.
Your other option, of course, is to change something. Anything.
What worked for me, and still does, is the IFNTT scenario: If Not, Then THAT (a twist on the IFTTT acronym, If This Then That).
It means, if the pain of not doing something is greater than the immediate relief (not quite pleasure) of procrastinating or omitting it, then I do it. This helps me stay ahead of the frustration, or at least not get too far in.
If gaining ten pounds sounds too painful, then I’ll eat better and exercise.
If being tired and unfocused all day is too stressful, I’ll go to bed earlier.
If the stress of work tasks piling up is too much, I’ll get better organized or stay late.
IFNTT. Sounds official, right? It’s not (I totally made it up), nor is it a perfect system. But I think it’s better to have one anyway. I know my patterns, and I can tell when I’m getting better by how soon I shift forward before falling into an old habit.
But that’s not to say you should ignore the concept of pleasure in making change, such as rewards, small wins, a sense of pride, gaining momentum to keep going…all that good jazz.
All true, and an important part of the journey. You want to sustain change, turn it into a (new) habit. When it’s a habit, it means you’ve overcome the hard part of change.
But the initial push, “the trigger”, is sometimes stronger when you don’t want the result you’re headed for. With ten extra pounds, I’d have to get bigger pants. Ugh. I hate to shop. That’s a crisis on its own. If not, then THAT.
Open up that back drawer in your mind and pull out the things you keep meaning to do…someday. Get in shape, take that big vacation, less stress, more success, find THE ONE.
If you had to change something–anything–to make them happen, do you want to wait for a crisis, or start now?
My book, The Light Shift: 21 Simple Ways to Make Your Days Interesting, Get Unstuck and Beat the Daily Grind is out! Check it out on Amazon here!
