Over the past few months we have been forced to take action in the way we live and to reconsider our priorities. Our daily routines have been turned upside down. Our social time has changed and what we have taken for granted is no longer guaranteed.
We haven’t had much of a choice in this action, we have been strongly advised, knowing that it ultimately for the safety of ourselves and others. We’ve understood the reasoning, more or less, and have consciously agreed to take this different action.
This change we’ve adapted to in one sense has been unquestioned, we haven’t needed to find hidden depths of motivation to make change, we were unable to procrastinate – we just did it!
How different does it become when we want to make changes for ourselves even though we know that it would be good for us? We know we can make changes, adapt and accept them, as proven over this period of pandemic, so why does it feel so hard when we try to do it on a personal level?
Then it can feel like it’s too much effort, our thoughts and beliefs kick in so we can easily justify why we won’t make changes just yet. The human mind is incredible at finding justifications for not taking action, we can always find a counter-argument or reason to put things off.
Very often we can convince ourselves that we are making changes and we have made strides forward but somehow that is not reflected in our daily living. It’s almost as if we are living our lives in our heads – our perception of our reality is not really what it actually is. Many times I’ve worked with people who have told me what they are going to do, and however many times they say it and believe it they still don’t, in reality, make those steps forward.
The bottom line is that, by all means, make the plans, work out the steps but unless you take actual action nothing has changed. We all took action whilst the virus was at its peak so we know we are capable of making changes.
Now we are in a position to start making changes for ourselves – to continue with healthier ways of living, to drop and let go of unhelpful beliefs and thoughts, to reconsider relationships and build new ones. If you have arrived at this mindset already that is brilliant, but you need to go beyond the mindset and start taking action. However small or seemingly insignificant take some form of action everyday to bring the changes you choose into your life.
