The Perfect Atmosphere for Making Positive Changes

Making positive changes is a part of every season of life!

Right now, it is blistering hot in my neck of the woods! That’s how summers are in the south – hot and humid, but all too soon those bone-chilling temps will be here again! Brrr!

For snow to form, the conditions have to be perfect – precipitation and temperatures below 32 degrees Fahrenheit. And there must be sufficient saturation (relative humidity values of 70% or higher) present within a layer known as the dendritic growth zone (DGZ), or snow growth zone.

While we enjoy fairly frequent snow flurries here in Chattanooga, the snow rarely lingers for long! For snow to remain on the ground for any length of time, the ground must also be below freezing.

When the conditions are right, it snows and the snow sticks!

The same is true for making positive changes, including adopting new habits or changes that enable you to reach significant goals in your life. Change is most likely to occur and stick when the conditions are right. Before you ever attempt to begin making big changes in your life, why not put your efforts into creating an atmosphere that’s more conducive to change?

To do that, you need to…

1. Get Clear

In today’s fast-paced world, there isn’t much time and space for slowing down and connecting with the people in your life or with yourself. Yet it’s essential that you really know yourself and become more self-aware first.

To be more self-aware, it’s time to get clear on your…

• Personality
  • • Values
    • Thinking preferences
    • Strengths and weaknesses
    • Motivations
    • Spiritual gifts
    • Reactions or what triggers you? What brings you joy?
    • Fear Monster and who God created you to be
    • Feelings
    • Mindset and beliefs (More on this one below!)

Who you are plays a role in the change process! It influences what changes might be helpful, how you deal with change, and what might hinder you along the way.

Without clarity, you may be tempted to make changes that you think you should be making rather than boldly pursuing what’s truly in keeping with the unique person God created you to be.

It’s natural to compare yourself to others – their successes or the ease with which they are able to do certain tasks – to try to be more like them, but for real transformational change to take place, it’s essential for you to know YOU!

2. Get Curious!

Before making changes, get curious and ask yourself…

• • • Why is this change important to me?
    • What mindset or beliefs will hinder me in the process?
    • Which mindset or beliefs would be helpful?
    • How does this change link to my values and/or priorities in this season?
    • What’s the reward or benefit to making this change?
    • How do I typically react when I am attempting to operate outside my comfort zone?
    • What fears might keep me from making this change, including the fear of failure?

It’s helpful to go into the change process with your eyes wide open and prepared for potential hiccups! What do you expect the change process to look like? How realistic are your expectations?

Yet in reality…

3. Get Fueled!

The process of change is an up and down one that requires energy! Unless you are fueled up, the process of change is going to be more stop than start!

One of the best ways to fuel up is to spend regular time with God. After all, He’s the One who loves you most and the One who is most capable of helping you! Don’t let time in His presence be a task to check off, but rather a time of filling up. I like to think about it in terms of living from God rather than for God. Lean on Him with everything you’ve got.

God is tickled when you are dependent on Him in this way, and it makes a difference in how you approach everything – including making changes! When you have the almighty God of the Universe as your source, the possibilities are limitless!

Another common mistake I see people make in the midst of trying to make a change is that they put off doing the very activities that bring them joy and make their heart happy until they’ve successfully arrived where they want to be. In reality, engaging time daily in those life-giving activities is sure to energize you even if you only spend 30 minutes doing them!

4. Get Comfortable with Feeling Uncomfortable

Making changes requires you to step outside your comfort zone, and that’s scary, awkward and even a little distressing.

The good news is that the more you practice pushing up against the edge of your comfort zone or even outside of it, the easier it gets. Your tolerance for discomfort actually grows! Guess what else grows – your confidence!

5. Get Compassionate

As you observed in my graphic above, making changes is a journey filled with highs and lows. And plenty of opportunities to learn to be more compassionate with yourself.

Whether you are trying to lose those 10 or 20 pounds…again, be more consistent with your boundaries, or lead in a more confident way, pay attention to your self-talk! Remember that you are an imperfect human who is seeking to do something challenging. Resist the urge to discount your progress even if it’s tiny and be kind and compassionate to yourself.

Being compassionate with yourself is not making excuses, but extending grace to yourself.

6. Get Your Mindset In Order

I started out by encouraging you to get clear on YOU, including your thinking, beliefs, and mindset. This is such a big deterrent to change that I want to address it specifically. Your thinking, beliefs, and mindset impact everything including your feelings, the choices you make, and the actions you take!

If change is what you are after, getting your thoughts, beliefs and mindset in order is essential!

7. Get Stacking

Many of the changes you want to make consist of new habits. The best way to incorporate new habits into your life is to stack them onto an existing habit you already have in place.

For example, stack the habit of flossing or rinsing with mouthwash on top of a habit you already have in place like brushing your teeth at night.

Or stack the new habit of writing down 5 things you are grateful for each day on top of the time you spend with God.

How might you practice stacking as a way to facilitate change in your life?

8. Get Hoping In The Right Stuff

I see it all the time – people set out fired up to make a change or reach an ambitious goal and then fizzle and quit. To successfully make changes and reach lofty goals, giving up even when it’s discouraging, is not an option. It takes hope!

It’s easy to put your hope in the latest guru’s formula or technique. Maybe you’ve enlisted experts to aid you in the process or even put your hope in yourself – after all you are willing to hustle and work really hard!

Those methods may provide some valuable help or insights, but your hope is best placed in God. When your hope is in Him and you are confident in His love and faithfulness in your life, you are free to venture out, experiment, and take risks.

What are you hoping in?

9. Get Help!

If you really want to make powerful changes in your life that stick, then don’t go it alone! You need people around you to encourage you to keep on going through the tough times and celebrate your successes too! Who in your life can support you in that way?

It’s also incredibly beneficial to have a coach in your corner. Someone who is able to point out the funky patterns, blind spots, and thinking that are blocking the changes you are seeking to make.

Feeling brave?

Score yourself in each of the nine areas above using the 1-10 scale below:

Where did you score the highest? That’s something to celebrate!

Where did you score the lowest? That’s something worth changing!

Where will you begin cultivating an environment ripe for making changes so that you thrive personally and professionally?

© Can Stock Photo / smaglov

This post was originally posted on 1/9/18. It’s been completely updated and revised just for you!