The problem with change is that we want dramatic [unrealistic] results. We want to go to the gym on Monday and be 3 sizes down by Friday, or at least in 2 weeks before the beach trip. It is painful to work hard and not see a noticeable change in a matter of weeks or months. Then we become demotivated and give up, never realizing our full potential. Secondly, we don’t really want to change. We say we want to change, but we haven’t actually changed anything. I can mope around all day about wanting to go back to school and it costing too much, but when questioned about how much I actually need to save to go back, I may not know, because I didn’t actually figure out how many credits I would need and how much the charges would be. I want to make myself feel good by saying that I will go back, when I haven’t even taken the smallest step to figuring out what going back means to me and my finances. It’s the same story with the gym. Sure, you bought a gym membership, but have you looked up what time the group classes started? Have you packed a bag and left it in the trunk? Have you changed your driving route so that you HAVE to pass the gym on your way home? No?!?! Well, I’m calling you out! There is no trying – you either do something or you don’t. Sure, you could argue there’s often shades of grey, but what is the point of arguing that point in the context of motivating yourself to make a change you claim you want to make – to further delay the decision you know you don’t really want to do? We want to remove the excuses so that we can do the things we say we want to do. This is why I created Jump Out Your Fishbowl. It’s about jumping out of your comfort zone. And jumping, starts with small incremental steps in preparation for the jump.
I will never [publicly] claim to know it all. But I truly believe that we can learn from each other’s life lessons. I think we can break things down into such easy elementary steps, that make it irrefutable to say that you did your best. Decades from now I want to know that I made every attempt to do what I was called to do.
