I’m not suggesting change is always a piece of cake, but believing it will be difficult certainly doesn’t help.
Time and again I’ve witnessed two people set a similar goal: Change careers, lose weight, downsize overhead, launch a business…
Granted, these are unique individuals with distinct life situations and differing skills.
But what I see over and over is it’s not external factors or ability determining someone’s ultimate success—but rather her mindset about the challenge.
First is whether someone believes the change is even possible.
I’ve had clients set a goal for change and then in the very next breath say they didn’t believe it would be possible.
Enough said. End of story. They are absolutely right: Change is not possible with that mindset.
Second is whether they expect the change will be onerous.
In other words, whether “difficult” and “hard” are filters through which they view the desired change.
Consider the difference in energy and motivation between these mindsets:
- Launching a business will be hard. I will launch my business with ease.
- It’s going to be so complicated to launch a business. I’m going to launch my business in the most simple and straightforward way.
We’re not just talking semantics.
If you believe the undertaking will be hard, your actions and nonactions will align to make that belief a reality.
On the other hand, if you believe change doesn’t have to be so complicated and you can make a change with ease, your thoughts and actions seek to make that true.
Through which lens would you rather see your desired change? Through the uphill battle of hard? Or through the ease of straightforward doability?
