Still thinking of change? That first step is a doozy isn’t it?

You know you want to change, you feel you must change but the more you think about it the more paralyzing it seems. Fear and doubts set in, courage starts to fade and you default to choosing “ I’m not ready yet.”and the cycle begins again.

“Without noticing we’re doing it, we treat the future as intrinsically more valuable than the present. And yet the future never seems to arrive.” Oliver Burkeman

There is a balance to making life altering decisions. You may not realize it but you make them everyday. The choice not to change is as profound as choosing to change and can often leads to regrets. “What would my life have been like if I took that job?”, “I really wanted to do something different with my life but felt others around me would not support me”, “I am not who I want to be”.

Although you can’t change the choices you made, you can make new ones, well thought out and meaningful ones.

Think through the choice/change you want to make and weigh out the power of that decision. If you’re aware of the consequences that might arise, you are more likely to make healthy decisions that will support your goals.

We often don’t give ourselves enough credit but you need to learn to trust your gut instinct. We can analyze and scrutinize all we want but our gut instinct is usually the right decision or the one that we truly wanted to go with. Even if our decision doesn't quite workout, going with our gut makes us more confident decision makers compared to those who take all day to decide.

Take action and follow through on the choice you make but be flexible as well. For example: You decided that you would go back and take evening classes to upgrade your career opportunities but the school you had in mind does not offer what you are looking for. You wouldn’t just stop fulfilling your dream because the first school you chose didn’t offer the courses you wanted, you’d just find another school that does. The example is simplistic but to the point. Rather than being inflexible in your approach, embracing any new information that brings you closer to your initial decision will help propel you forward in accomplishing it.

Don’t forget to learn from past decisions either! We can all look back at poor decisions we’ve made but rather then dwell on them, ask instead “What did I learn from this? How can I avoid making the same decision again?” Look back at your good decisions as well and ask yourself “What did I do right when I made this decision? How can I repeat this success?”

We learn a lot about ourselves going through the process of change. Through the wobbly first steps of taking life in our own direction, we start to gain confidence. The more you practice the easier it will be to make more choices and has the potential to affect your lives profoundly in the direction you want it to go.

Opportunities are always waiting for us.

Take Care,

Christine