Life change is difficult, but when we know the formula of change, like these 10 Ways to Thrive through Change, we can make changes rather than waste time fumbling around. Big changes that we have never been able to make before become possible with the right roadmap. Most of us decide to change and then keep on going down the same road we have always been on with only the idea of change in our heads. That is a good intention, but the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

When we do this, we collect more and more baggage and end up more overstressed and confused than when we started out on our journey of change. The art of change is so complex in some ways and so simple in others that it is hard to understand how to launch ourselves into new, uncertain, and unknown territory. Knowing how to take your first step to change your life starts with…..STOPPING!

HOW TO TAKE YOUR FIRST STEP TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE

When we learn how to Stop what is not working in our lives and then learn how to START the CHANGE CYCLE we can accomplish far more in one year than it could take others to do in 10 years. Know that everything from depression, addictions, anxiety, trauma, and personality disorders are absolutely treatable in short spaces of time. That’s what we do for a living and it works wonders. Today nothing needs to stand in the way of you living your best life. All you need are the tools and the system to know how to effect that change which we teach at our Center in South Africa. What you must also be aware of is that most people (up to 97%) don’t make big changes happen.

We must let go of the old to grab a hold of the new because nothing bloody well changes if nothing changes!

If we really understood how difficult radical personal transformation was we may whimper at the gravity of the task at hand. Wisdom from one of my favourite authors, M. Scott Peck, has been coming up lately. He said, “Life is difficult. This is a great truth, one of the greatest truths. It is a great truth because once we truly see this truth, we transcend it”. That is what it means to change. When we face, see, recognise and accept life as it truly is we are able to change it by going above it. To transcend something means to go beyond our perceptions and conceptions of boundaries and limits. To transcend ourselves is to surpass the self or ego as you see it while reaching out for something new and higher. This is what we mean when we said that we must let go of the old to grab a hold of the new because nothing changes if nothing changes. Good intentions are not enough.

10 Ways to Thrive through change

Change is necessary in life. Just as growth is necessary, so is change. Although we love certainty, change is a must. In fact, it is much of what life is about. The first two human needs that we all have driving us are the need for certainty and then the need for uncertainty. Being is easier than becoming to the mind. It likes to sit tight.

The six basic human needs together move from certainty to uncertainty to significance to love and belonging and then to growth and contribution. The six needs are innate in all of us. None of us can stay stuck on certainty for too long, and the law of impermanence makes sure that everything is moving and changing all the time. We age, we grow, we become more conscious, and we go through many environmental changes in life, whether we like it or not. At some point in life, for all of us, we will need to break through the boundaries of fear and embrace the uncertainty and the unknown. When we face the unknown and consider a change, we get to experience new feelings, thoughts, perceptions, beliefs, and behaviors. We need to learn and then apply (verb) new strategies to overcome, grow, and achieve our objectives. Here are 10 Ways to Thrive through change:

1. Become aware that change is happening sooner rather than later. Look out for change and notice it when it arrives. Usually unannounced. Awareness is the first thing you need to do to be prepared to thrive through change. Forewarned is forearmed. The first step of change you may be a little surprised at is stopping. Stop instead of pace up. Consider, contemplate and articulate first. Then make changes and walk down a new street, metaphorically speaking.
2. Start to change with change. Learn how to shift your focus and direction to flow with changes that could be happening that are beyond your control. The death of a loved one or a natural disaster or the pandemic that we just went through are all good examples of how we need to start to shift our focus and go with the flow. Learn to focus on controlling what is within your control. Very little outside of us, in our environment, is within our control but we can control everything that happens on the inside and respond to life as best as we can in this way. Responding on the inside is what spirituality really is.
3. Accept change like you chose it. The last thing that we want to do is argue with change or argue with reality. If change is happening it is happening and there is very little we can do other than accept it and respond to it. So when change comes bring out your affirmations and accept it as if your chosen it yourself.
4. Plan. Plan then organise then activate your plan and then manage or control that plan. We need a clear understanding of what needs to change how we are going to make that change happen and what we’re going to do to manage these new changes. Plan before taking action.

1. Assign new meaning to the changes that are happening in your life. When changes happen we all tend to panic. Fear sets in when we do not know what our lives look like any longer, when the shape of things change we get scared. We need to create new meaning to the changes around us and find new reasons and purposes to deal with the uncertainty that we face ahead. We can choose to assign new meaning to anything. For example a relationship ends and we push past the rejection and doubt that come knocking and instead embrace a different mindset on purpose. A higher mindset with better energy. We can assign meaning to change that because change is inevitable, endings are also inevitable. A firm belief that change is a good thing and will benefit you in the long run can make all the difference.
2. Change requires structure. Our 6th of the 10 Ways to Thrive through Change is to use a journal to map, plan, organise and manage the unfolding changes. We write and sketch and map our thoughts, feelings and other unseen challenges from within into some sort of physical reality for us on paper. Something we can stare at and consider. Writing a heading ‘what now’ can prompt your inner wisdom to manifest when you need it. Don’t knock it until you try it. The power of our words seems to be limitless. Use affirmations and write them down. Use mission statements, goals and objectives and put them on paper. All fear and confusion belongs on paper!
3. Raise your resilience. Dig deep and think back to the many times in the past that you have overcome and conquered difficult and uncertain times. Bring them to mind and realise that you are more than capable of doing it again. Raise your resilience by digging deep within and stirring up confidence and self love as well as self-respect. Make sure to convince your lowest self that your higher self is in command and has a steady grip on the helm.
4. Slow down and take small changes for big victories. Anything you do to adapt to your environment, or new demands that may arise, is a little victory. Celebrate the small victories because life is a difficult and the unfolding process of change itself is one of the only things that we can really be certain about. Change will never cease. Even death is less certain than change. A gratitude practice or meditation twice a day is essential to calm the nerves, slow the mind, open the heart and allow your higher intelligence, or meta thinking, or what we call contemplative intelligence (CQ), a chance to activate. Google contemplative intelligence and learn how to activate that intelligence for yourself.
5. Cling to positive emotions such as gratitude, peace and inner bliss. These are real emotions that are so powerful that when we experience them we elevate mind, body and soul and discover dormant energies, faculties and talents that we may never have known we had. Negative emotions will come. Allow them to come especially when things start to get uncertain around life’s challenges and changes. Just be sure to hold onto positive emotions as if your life depended on them. They are like good old fashioned gasoline that we need to drive our engines down the highways of life with.
6. Be the change. Last on the 10 Ways to Thrive through change is probably the most important part of dealing with change of any kind. Mahatma Gandhi said “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” Become one with change and practice radical acceptance as soon and as often as you are able to do so. As we said before try and accept it like you chose it, as if it was natural, meant to be and part of a much bigger picture that we may not be able to see. Be the change and level up. This is what life is about. Life that is happening for you and not to you.

The story of change in Five Short Chapters

The theme of the poem “Autobiography in Five Short Chapters” written by Portia Nelson is about destructive habits, certainty and the difficulty in the nature of change. It highlights the 10 Ways to Thrive through Change well and reveals that one must first accept responsibility in order to make a positive change. What we need to do is stop, change direction completely and then apply our responses to changes that occur in our lives. I love the way the story illustrates this so creatively.

Chapter I

I walk down the street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I fall in.
I am lost… I am hopeless.
It isn’t my fault.
It takes forever to find a way out.

Chapter II

I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I pretend I don’t see it.
I fall in again.
I can’t believe I am in this same place.
But it isn’t my fault.
It still takes a long time to get out.

Chapter III

I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I see it there.
I still fall in… it’s a habit… but,
my eyes are open.
I know where I am.
It is my fault.
I get out immediately.

Chapter IV

I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I walk around it.

Chapter V

I walk down another street.

Change your street and apply the 10 Ways to Thrive through Change to get a new perspective and mindset before you start any new action. Think, feel, contemplate, consider, feel some more, plan, then only implement and manage the changes you need to make. In this way you will flow and be the change you want to see in the end.

If you still get stuck, don’t stay stuck. Come to our private healing and life transformation clinic in South Africa and make change happen through anything that holds you back. Our professional team treats addictions, depression, relationship issues, burnout, eating and food disorders and all personality disorders such as bipolar, borderline and anxiety. You can heal your life!