I recently went through some dramatic life changes, spurred on by seemingly overnight life-altering decisions, taken by me, and although it seemed like these decisions had literally taken years to make, once I had actually made them and committed to them, everything seemed to start flowing the right direction and moving super fast (cue mini confidence crisis - 'OMG it's really all happening - how am I going to cope?... Blah blah blah...')
So it got me thinking, how come it took me so long to make these changes?...
For me, the answer is two-fold.
1. I was scared - completely scared of failing. Yes I have a lot of negative influences around me, who didn't mean to but who made me feel like I was never going to amount to anything without them, but I can't blame them. Something I've learnt that's so important is
IF YOU BELIEVE IN YOURSELF, OTHER PEOPLE WILL TOO (EVENTUALLY).
2. I think everything that happens in your life leads you to the place you need to be i.e. I needed all that time to get fully prepared and be in the right headspace for the changes. You can believe this or not, but please don't use it as an excuse not to make that next big step!
What changed?...
Good question. Honestly, I've been working a lot on myself and doing a lot of positive visualisation on how I want my future to look. Then I really started looking for opportunities and anything that might look like it could help me on the path towards my goals. There were obvious things and more subtle things, that I didn't know why I wanted to do, but it felt right so I followed my intuition.
Want an example? I was living in Italy, knowing when my secondment finished and I had to come back to the UK I probably wouldn't be going back to a job I enjoyed, but I was enjoying Italy so didn't want to think too much about it. However, I knew something needed to happen so I started visualising my future, progressing my website and having the strength to leave my job (family firm - parents, brother, lots of complications!). Within a couple of weeks I got told my secondment was ending early, at the same time my partner got a great new job in London. I took that as a real sign that I should look for another job and move to London with my partner. Four weeks later, I have a new job, new flat and I'm moving in two weeks (oh, and my brother was really supportive too - very big surprise!).
All sound a little sketchy? Don't worry, I'm not going all hippy, but I do believe if you direct your thoughts you can direct your reality, and it seems to be working for me, so don't knock it 'til you try it!
It's so much easier than I thought, once your thoughts are going in the right direction, everything will come together for you...
Since I made the decision to move, everything came together so quickly. So take your time, have a think, then really focus your thoughts on making that change and looking for the opportunities!
Creating at lightening speeds....
Take the leap, look for the changes, watch it happen!
What you can do to overcome your thoughts and make that next big step.....
Want some homework? Didn't think so! Good thing this is easy and fun then hey?
Set your alarm 5 mins early in the morning, or go to bed 5 mins earlier.
Spend those five minutes daydreaming (make sure you re-set the alarm so you don't drift off!) - imagine your dream life, money no object, job no object, location no object, family no object etc.
Spend your days expecting opportunities - this is really important!
ACT ON THE OPPORTUNITIES! Seriously - baby steps - but when you see something that seems to move you closer to your goal, don't let it slip by, take action!
Not so scary hey? Enjoy playing and see what happens! Let me know...
N.B. This article has been cross-posted on my blog.