The Magic Recipe for Success

​You have a goal and are looking to achieve it. That may mean some changes are in order. For many, the biggest challenge isn’t actually making the initial change, it’s in the actions that follow to support the initial change.

Change management consultants often lead students through an illustration of the discomfort of change by having the students write their name with the hand they would usually write with. They then have the students write their name with the other hand. If you have never done this, try it. With your dominant hand, sign your name three times. Next, with your non-dominant hand, sign your name three times. How did it feel? Awkward, right?

Change can bring discomfort, but it is in discomfort where the real magic begins.

Change is hard at first, messy in the middle, and gorgeous at the end. ~ Robin Sharma

How do we get through the messy part, the part where transformation takes place? It doesn’t matter what the change is, weight loss, new job, quitting drinking or smoking, or getting an education, it’s been thought that it’s the action that leads to results- this is not quite true.

Your thinking is the true driver.

When you are in the midst of the messy, it’s your thinking that either makes it messy, or helps you clear the path for your success.

Let’s look at losing weight. What’s needed? Choices. You will need to choose to make better food choices and get exercise. You go to the store and fill your basket with healthy food options. Your initial actions to surround yourself with healthy food seems like a winning recipe for success.

Strength and growth come only through continuous effort and struggle. ~ Napoleon Hill

Why is it then that when you feel a hunger pain or get a craving for something that doesn’t fit into your plan that you eat more than you should or something that you should not?

You took action to not slip back; so how did this happen? You were focused on doing and on action.

Focusing on actions is not the answer.

Discomfort drives a feeling. You feel a certain way which is attached to a thought. That thought is going to drive your action. If you focus on the action, you’ve missed where the true magic happens – in your thinking!
We need to work on your thinking to drive true, sustainable change. Changing your thinking will change how you feel and drive your results.

If you don’t feel like working out, will you? The only way that you will is if you do it, despite your feeling. This is a choice.

When you understand that your power to do anything is driven by your thinking and how that makes you feel, we can get you to where you want to be.

Often, we wait for results to drive us. Again, we are putting the cart before the horse. If you want to feel motivated, feel like you can achieve what you want, it starts with your thinking.

Walt Disney said, “Think, believe, dream, dare.”

Believing in your thinking is what drives the feelings which will support you through the discomfort of transformation. You can choose to look at the discomfort as a negative thing or as a positive step toward being one step closer to your goal.

The feeling you assign through your thinking will drive the actions that follow.

Until you change your thinking, you will recycle your experiences. Changing your thinking will change your life. At the heart of any change is your thinking.

Your mind is a powerful thing. When you fill it with new positive thoughts about what you are experiencing, your feelings will change and your corresponding actions.
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This week decide on your goal and determine how achieving this goal will make you feel. Ask yourself why. Why you want to achieve is going to be the feeling that you need to have as a driving force to your successful thinking. When feeling discomfort, I’d like you to focus on why you want the change. Every time you feel discomfort, celebrate- you are smack dab in the middle of change! The next step – SUCCESS!