Change can be hard.
“But I like my iced tea sweet!’ said the woman with type II diabetes, who has been in the hospital countless times with low blood sugar scares. She says this to me after attending a talk focused on the affects of sugar on the body.
Why do we hold on to things, thoughts, food and activities that don’t serve us?
- Convenience
- Fear of change
- Resistance to the unknown
- Addiction
- Attachment
- Habit
- Lack of awareness
- Stubbornness
- Old soundtracks in our mind
I recently heard of a chef who has eczema so badly it is affecting his eyesight…so he jacked up on pills and topical potions. He refuses to give up gluten – the diagnosed cause of his discomfort.
Would you risk your eyesight to still eat dough?
Do we just get so comfortable being uncomfortable that we ignore all the suffering we are experiencing?
- For the mom who stays up till 2am worrying and waiting for her kids – sleepless nights fog her brain, disrupt her metabolism and her dependence on coffee is messing with her gut – not to mention the additional fights with her husband. The worry won’t disappear – however, What would happen if we shift our approach to worry?
- For the man who is alone and finds a pint of ice cream to comfort himself…What would happen if we sought connections in a new place?
- For the woman who wants to make time for herself and her creative gifts yet keeps being dragged into her work life. What would happen if she said ‘No?’
For so many of us, we don’t even realize we are suffering. It sneaks up on us over time. Just a pound or two a year and 10 years later, you’re carrying 20 extra pounds that is affecting our confidence, sleep, joints, job performance, and heightening social anxiety.
The ‘I’ll do it tomorrow’ ends up being five years later and we’re still not happy and not alive.
Painting a house happens one brush stroke at a time. So does changing our habits. It’s the consistency that matters. Truth is, it might look messy and be inconvenient for a while. Remember that the chipping paint didn’t happen overnight – neither will getting the whole house painted in a day.
For the woman who likes her tea sweet: I hope she heard these ideas.
When change is hard, here are a few ideas to get unstuck and make change happen:
- Make the change you want a priority. We tend to blame time, work, or kids as reasons for not making change. These are simply excuses. Reprioritize what it is you want – we often lose track of this as life unfolds around us.
- Look at your future self. Ask yourself: Where will I be in one year, five years, ten years, if I make no changes? This kind of honest assessment can bring you into focus.
- Create small, daily wins. Being consistent with one small thing at a time is a recipe for sustained progress. We tend to want to change everything all at once and that’s not sustainable. Small wins give us little bites of courage to keep going.
One more BONUS idea: Engage a coach. Support can make the job feel less overwhelming, less lonely and more do-able.
