Power of Change

0:00There's a quote from George Elliott that states it's never too late to be what you might have been. And see that ability to separate the stories of yesterday from the stories of right now will always be what determine your tomorrow. I'm still searching for the best way to really articulate this message, to emphasize just how precious this moment right now could be if only we decided to make it so if only we recognized the power in choosing to begin again. Now I understand the power of habits, how they define us and how practically speaking change isn't as easy as saying you're going to be something and then just becoming that thing.

1:00No, you have to build habits, your actions, they become your life and there are plenty of resources on habit building like James Clear being one of my favorites and someone I point to often. One of his best quotes, he says the task of building a good habit is like cultivating a delicate flower, one day at a time, meaning little actions over time create big results. But before any of that, before any steps, before any habits, before any action, we have to know that once a page is turned, it's gone. It becomes data to guide your next decision and that's all. It's understanding that yesterday is not you. And the resource for you to look back on is you reflect on what worked and what didn't,

2:01what you loved and what you didn't love where you went and why it mattered. But you're not yesterday's losses or mistakes or tragedies. Just like today's weather is ultimately independent from yesterday's. Sure, they may follow the same pattern, same rules, same guidelines. And that's great, that's how we get the data that allows us to look back and calculate what's best for us. But ultimately today is a new day, a day with the potential, the capability of becoming something extraordinarily beautiful. And we may think, okay, I get it, sure, I can become something new, all right, let's go. But the question is, do you really believe it? Do you really understand how malleable you are, how you can bend and fold and shape yourself

3:08into something new? Because the second you get that quick blast of motivation, right, that tiny bit of courage and dip your toe in the water, what happens? Life says not so fast. Your mind presses play on a giant projector showing the film of who you used to be, right, not who you want to be. The media displays a seemingly perfect collage of everyone around you pretending to live problem-free lives and prompting you to think, oh, this must mean I'm doing something wrong. My TV, news, media, politicians tell you that life is too hard, you're too oppressed to find your way out of it. Of course not without their help. So why try one might think?

4:12Friends may disappear or worse, criticize the fact that you've changed as if that wasn't the point of life in its entirety. In my message is this, yes, change comes from habits and yes, habits are small, daily decisions, but also creating that mental space to welcome in those new habits, to understand your worthy of more, to understand right now is a beginning. That is both the greatest challenge and greatest accomplishment. Giving yourself permission amidst an endless array of adversaries, that's what makes or breaks you. Not how close you keep your running shoes to the door so that you see them and it triggers those AM workout sessions, no, that stuff's important, but does it matter if you don't

5:14see yourself as someone who's going to use those shoes as a tool to change into something new, to put them on when you don't want to, when you feel tired, when you're busy, who are you going to choose to be and can you hold on to that idea? See I obviously enjoy motivation, right? I consume a video or an audio almost every morning, I feel like it gets me in the right head space and then I get on with my work, right? And for the most part, it is a great job of communicating to us what we need for that moment. It's like believe in yourself, work hard, don't you dare give up. Amen. But where it sometimes drops the ball, in my opinion is the why, why believe in myself, why work hard, why not give up? And the answer is because we are these incredibly gifted beings with the ability to change and

6:22adapt and grow, but are confronted with the world that wants to tell you no. Change is immediately met with resistance, as if it prefers life at rest. It begs for stagnation, and you even thinking that you can rearrange the order of things shakes life at its foundation. And when we feel that, there's a default uncertainty, a mini panic, how can something be right when it just feels like every move forward is a right hook to the face? Like we're constantly pushing into the headwind. I'll never forget, I was almost two years into my journey as a speechwriter, a YouTuber, a content creator, right? Two years since I left my job. And I felt guilty taking an afternoon jog.

7:24It felt like a luxury I wasn't entitled to. Something that minimal, it took time for me to stop thinking about that and enjoy it. That's how crazy it was. Having so tiny and insignificant, now imagine the weight of the big things. With change, the hard thing is the right thing. That's a tough idea to put our hands around, to hold to embrace. What we least want to do is so often what we need. But as Campbell says, the cave we fear holds the treasure we seek. This Peterson says the dragon protects the gold. Jim Rohn, the winters of life, give way to the springs and the summers. Nietzsche said there's no beautiful surface without a terrible depth to become who we might be hurts. And I'm not sure why it has to be this way, perhaps, a test to weed out those who don't

8:27really want it. Or maybe it's what we learn when we leave the pieces of ourselves we no longer want. Behind. Or maybe it's because without that fight, without that suffering, evolution just wouldn't mean as much. But the climb, it creates the view. Regardless the reason, I hope the point comes through when it comes through loud and clear and not just now as your alarm clock goes off. And you're looking for that extra push to get up, but tomorrow, in the morning after that, when things become a little bit harder and the finish line feels a little less real, a little less visible. The person you hope to become is as real as the present moment. It's as real when you're excited and motivated as it is when you're discouraged and down, but look around you and understand that it's counterintuitive, as crazy as frustrating

9:28as it might be, the discomfort and uncertainty does not mean you are lost or you've wandered too far. It means you're right where you need to be. It's the little price to be paid every day for monumental change. So as you look out your front door, know that more does exist, know that it will demand more of you than you've ever given and know that you are capable of not only needing but exceeding those demands and that it will be the most rewarding, incredible, meaningful journey of your life. So as you look out your front door, know that it will be the most rewarding journey of your life.

10:37So as you look out your front door, know that it will be the most rewarding journey of your life.