#transformation

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One Step

When most of us think of transformation, we think of dramatic, significant change that takes place on a large scale. But that really isn’t the case.

Transformation is best made one small step at a time that moves you towards your goal. And I think there in lies the problem for many people.

We live in a day and age where the dramatic is valued. And without dramatic change happening in a relatively small timeframe, most people give up on transformation because the small steps many times go unnoticed.

Let’s face it, small steps done on a daily basis can sometimes be boring. It can seem as though we are not truly making any progress. But the facts don’t support that thought.

Right now there are Olympic athletes preparing for both winter and summer events. They don’t just simply get off the plane and go out and win gold. No, today they take multiple small steps towards the goal of winning gold. They practice. They condition. They work on their thought process. Multiple upon multiple of small steps are involved in getting them towards their gold medal.

So if you are working on transformation, do not be discouraged. It is in the small daily steps that you will truly transform your life, your health, and your business. Be intentional. Be disciplined. And realize those small steps will move you toward your ultimate goal of success.

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The Transformation “Doings” by Jim Johnson

Transformation requires work.  We all know that.  Years ago I read that to realize change, we need to start doing some things and stop doing others to get us to where we want to be.

Transformation requires these 2 “doings”  – START and STOP

If you want to transform an area of your personal and/or work life, you will need to START doing something new, in different ways.  Why?  As I wrote last time, if you always do what you’ve always done, you will always get what you’ve always gotten.  So, transformation requires that we START to do something new – the CHANGE.

If you want, for example,  more energy, lose weight, and improve the overall sense of health in your life, you can START doing something new by:

  • Drinking more water.
  • Get regular exercise.
  • Choose healthier food options.
  • Visit your doctor on a regular basis.

But in order to improve your health, you will most likely need to STOP doing things that will hinder this goal:

  • Stop drinking soda pop.
  • Stop eating junk food throughout the day.
  • Stop going through the drive-thru lane at a local fast food restaurant multiple times per week.
  • Stop plopping yourself in front of the TV for hours each evening.

START Here:

So on this 2nd day of the new year, think about where you need transformation. Write it down.  Next, create a 2-column list and write as headings START DOING and STOP DOING.  Fill out each column.  This list is not a wish list.  It is a doing list.  If you think you’ll waiver on this, share your list with a friend who can help with accountability (in fact, why not ask a friend or two to do this along with you).

We can tend to think of transformation as some sort of dramatic life event that will catapult us to a new level.  Maybe in the movies, but in the real world, transformation takes planning, determination, work, and intention.

And it can be as simple as this:

START doing the things that will move you closer to what you want to be, achieve.

STOP doing the things that put up obstacles on the road to your transformation

 

start stop doing

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TRANSFORMATION: change…seriously…change by Jim Johnson

always do what you always have done

Day after day…month after month…year after year it is the same.  You keep doing the same things in your life and yet you wish things were different.

“Why can’t I lose weight?”             “Why didn’t I get that promotion?”

             “Why do I feel stuck financially?”              “Why isn’t my relationship with my kids better?”

Deep down inside, we already know the answer.  We have not seriously changed anything to help us realize our goals/dreams.  We have not been transformed.

I hear this lament all the time from family and from coworkers.  I’ve seen people struggle with “getting ahead” in so many arenas in life yet they keep behaving the same as they always have.  They keep believing as they always have.  They keep thinking as they always have.

Yet they expect different results.

How do I know this?  I’ve had a lot of conversations with people about this.  And I have personally struggled with this.  We all have.

Why?  Why have we all struggle so?  Why can’t we seem to “get off the dime” and really experience change in our lives – change that we truly want to see happen?

“If you always do what you’ve always done…”

Our “doing” – our habits – have us right where we are.  Right, our habits (a settled or regular tendency or practice, especially one that is hard to give up) have set the program by which we live our lives.  We have so regularly practiced something…

  • Making unhealthy food choices
  • Putting off exercise
  • Dragging our feet on innovating at work
  • Not taking the initiative to deepen a relationship

…that it is now “settled”…it marks who we are.  We don’t like it.  We want to be different.  But habits are “hard to give up”.

So what can we do?  Note:  the dictionary definition of a habit states they are hard to give up – not impossible.  In other words, it is entirely POSSIBLE to change a habit to make it work FOR you and not against you.

Dr. Shad Helmstetter teaches that we can re-program our mind to think more positively by merely repeating new thoughts consistently.

“In logical progression, what we believe determines our attitudes, affects our feelings, directs our behavior, and determines our success or failure:

  1. Programming creates beliefs.
  2. Beliefs create attitudes.
  3. Attitudes create feelings.
  4. Feelings determine actions.
  5. Actions create results.”

This works for both negative thoughts and positive thoughts.  Both thoughts follow this progression.

So, if you want to transform how you think, for example, you have to change your programming – those thoughts which you allow into your mind.

The same is true for our health.  If we eat unhealthy food, we will become unhealthy. A steady diet of junk food will not result in a healthy body.  We were not created this way.  “Garbage in, garbage out.”

So much has been written about habits.  I would encourage you to read about habits, their power, and how you can truly make effective changes in your life.  I recommend the following books:

The thoughts these authors share will change your life. They really will.  But not by merely reading.  It will be in the doing.

If you feel stuck…if you feel hopeless…if you struggle…if you are disgusted you are where you are…CHANGE YOUR HABITS, CHANGE YOUR LIFE.

TRANSFORMATION happens through effective habits.  Jeff Olson, author of The Slight Edge, says that true change happens – not in huge dramatic moments – in the everyday effort of moving closer to our goals. More to come on this.

Look at your habits.  Looks at your goals.  If your current habits do not move you towards what you want, change them.  Every day, change them.

There may be a thousand little choices in a day. All of them count.
Dr. Shad Helmstetter

 

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TRANSFORMATION in 2020 by Jim Johnson

We are fast approaching 2020.  Many of us are looking ahead and formulating new goals and direction.  Resolutions will be made.  Later they will be broken.

What causes us to do this year after year? And when so many of us fail to follow through?

  • Lack of discipline?
  • Incorrect goals?
  • This is more than wishful thinking?

Why do we even set goals for ourselves?

  • To feel better about ourselves?
  • To make others value us more?
  • Societal pressure?
  • Advertising pressure?

Let’s look at health goals.  Millions of people right now are thinking about their health goals for 2020.  Losing weight.  Eating healthy foods.  Exercise. Reduce medication.  Those are all great and noble goals.

But for millions, these goals will be a fading thought very early in the year.

According to U.S. News & World Report, the failure rate for New Year’s resolutions is said to be about 80 percent, and most lose their resolve by mid-February.

People will lose the desire to do what it takes to meet their goals.  A warm cinnamon roll on a frigid February morning will win the day, and the slippery slope from that fresh baked goodness will loom large.  Within days, health goals can be obliterated.  “Oh, well, next year.”

Look back on your life 1 year ago.  Reflect on this:

  • How am I healthier today?
  • How have I grown as a person, parent, spouse, leader in the past year?
  • How has my spiritual life developed?
  • How has my financial wellness improved?

“Well, ummm, I guess I’m really the same as I was back then.  Actually, I’ve been this way for years.”

See, becoming better is not simply a matter of desire.  Who doesn’t want to become healthier?  More in tune spiritually?  A better mom/dad/person?  More secure financially?

We all do.

So what’s missing when we set goals and resolutions yet fail to follow-through so quickly?

What we need is TRANSFORMATION.

Transformation definition

Let’s break this definition down:

  • Profound – very great or intense.
  • Radical – very different from the usual, sometimes to the extreme
  • Change – not the same as before
  • New direction – turn around and head on a different path
  • More effective – results, better results, life-changing results

 

Allow me some liberty here.  When I think of TRANSFORMATION, I think of the word repentance.  When someone repents, there are 2 actions required:

  1. Turning away from something.
  2. Turning to something/someone.

To truly change your life (health, relationships, development, finances, etc.), this sense of repentance needs to be applied.

Health:  I am turning from foods that harm me.  I am turning to foods that heal.

Relationships:  I am turning from behaviors that harm others.  I am turning to behaviors that build bridges and create peace.

Finances:  I am turning from undisciplined spending.  I am turning to creating a plan to move me towards freedom.

Personal Development:  I am turning from haphazardly moving through life.  I am turning to intentional ways to grow.

Do you see the difference?

Let’s explore how TRANSFORMATION can happen in your life.  Today, it is December 21, 2019.  Think ahead to December 21, 2020.

  • How will you feel if you truly TRANSFORMED your life?
  • What kind of results would you realize?
  • How will your health, spiritual life, relationships, finances, etc. all become better as a result of TRANSFORMATION?
  • See yourself having improved these key areas of life. Visualize you being in a “profound, radically” different place.  Do you like what you see?  Doesn’t this excite you?

Fact: you can TRANSFORM your life.  You can!  In the posts to come, let’s learn and discover how TRANSFORMATION can become possible in our lives.  I need it!  I bet you do, too.

In the posts that follow, let’s learn together how we can TRANSFORM our lives.  We’ll explore the TRANSFORMATION definition, creating habits, the power of documenting your progress in a journal, accountability, the idea that TRANSFORMATION is not a one-and-done proposition…and so much more.  I’ll great resources that I’ve read/listened to  from great people.

Do you want to remain the same person you’ve been for years (decades)?  I don’t.  True change requires TRANSFORMATION.

Join me in the journey!  Let’s become better.

metamorphosis

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LeaderBox – Leadership Resources for YOU

Are you looking for leadership material to read and apply?  I just found a great new resource called LeaderBox.  Each month, LeaderBox will send you books on leadership as well as other resources to help you become better:  a better leader, a better thinker, a better doer.

I am providing a link that you can use to learn more.  Invest in yourself this year.  LeaderBox can help!

Click on the icon below to get started:

LeaderBox.JPG

Or follow this link to get started: LeaderBox

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Transformation from the Inside Out by Jim Johnson

We’ve all seen images like this before. The monarch butterfly caterpillar changing into a chrysalis. I watched a video on this just now. I had forgotten that the caterpillar split and the chrysalis came from the inside. And eventually the monarch butterfly will emerge from the inside.

What a great illustration of transformation! 

I see a lot of new leaders trying to do certain things to demonstrate their leadership. But much of what I’ve seen, and I’m sure you’ve seen, are the changes that somebody makes only on the outside. Things that people readily see.

Transformation begins on the inside.

  • Character 
  • Integrity
  • Trust
  • Honesty
  • Caring 

If you are reading this and you are a leader, I hope you desire to grow. But it’s not merely doing the acts of leadership that makes you a great leader. It is the transformation from within that provides the motivation, “steam”, the energy to propel your leadership to greater influence.