Like all good introverts, we hate change. But we will begrudgingly admit that sometimes we need to change and it’s often for the better.
In a new post, Kristen Lamb talks about New Year’s writing resolutions and why we might not be hitting them. What does change mean to her? She uses an acrostic to get her point across.
C – We need catalysts to change. In other words, we need a reason to change and some heat to make sure we do. The last 2 years brought a lot of change due to the pandemic. “Maybe we learned patience, how to be kinder, the importance of self-care,” Lamb says. “We might have become keenly aware of just how much we’d taken for granted (family, concerts, travel, dining out, shopping, going to a workplace with real, living people). All great changes that never would have happened without a catalyst.”
H – Help is available. Trying to stick to positive life changes without help is possible, but it’s a lot harder.
A – Actions matter. “Too many people underestimate the power of small actions every day, day after day, week after week, month after month,” Lamb says. We ignore the small steps we can take towards our goals because we want big change and we want it now. “Instead of fixating on an entire lifestyle overhaul, pick a handful of actions that would get you where you want to be…then do that over and over and over,” Lamb suggests.
N – Nerve can be a good thing. “Did you have members of your family who shamed you for wanting, for dreaming, for daring to forget your place?” Lamb asks. “‘Friends,’ colleagues, acquaintances who mocked, undermined or sabotaged you for wanting to do something different or to dream big?” [ed. note – we did.] Trade in the bad kind of nerve – the kind that tells you that you’re presumptuous – and adopt the good kind – the kind that says your brave and audacious.
E – Everyone does NOT have the same 24 hours. “Leonardo DaVinci did NOT have the SAME 24 hours unless he was doing laundry, bills, dishes, homeschooling, answering emails, and forced to attend pointless meetings about why no one is being productive…while painting the Mona Lisa,” Lamb says. “So help me, if I read one more motivational book written by someone who can afford STAFF who then berates regular working people for not using their time wisely? I WILL have a book burning.” Rich people have a very different 24 hours than you do. Give yourself some slack. Use the time you have wisely, but realize that you might have a lot less than a person telling you that you’re not doing enough.
