🔵 Change starts with this...

What does it take to change? 

Maybe you want to lose weight, start going to the gym, or adopt a healthier lifestyle. 

Maybe you want to increase your income, pay off debt, or start investing more. 

Or perhaps you want to start a business, enhance the performance of your existing one, or position yourself to advance in your career. 

What's the first step? 

It sounds simple, but it begins with "the decision."

The decision that where you are now is not where you want to be. 

The decision that now is a better time to change than later.

The decision that you will take action to make that change a reality. 

Action makes change real, but it is the decision that makes action possible. 

This may sound simple, but when it comes to changing our subconscious behavior, simple is rarely easy. 

The Rock Bottom Solution

When is the easiest time to decide to change your life drastically? 

Sadly, it's when you hit some form of rock bottom. 

This could be your doctor telling you that you need to get healthy if you want to live past your sixtieth birthday, or your child expressing a desire for you to take your fitness more seriously because they learned in school that fit and healthy people live longer. 

Maybe it's facing foreclosure on your home or realizing that you will finally pay off your student loans by 87 if you maintain your current pace. 

It could be getting fired or laid off, coming 'this' close to missing payroll, or watching your boss drive away in his new sports car after making you work the weekend for the fifth consecutive week. 

It's easy to decide to change in these rock bottom moments because the pain you feel is so great that you will do almost anything to alleviate it. 

The veil of comfort and safety that your subconscious tricked you into believing exists is lifted, and both your conscious and subconscious agree that something must change. 

It is a terrible place to be, but if you find yourself there, it can be a powerful catalyst for growth. 

But what if there was a better way? 

There Is A Better Way

I would be lying if I said the high performers I work with never experience these rock-bottom moments. Nearly everyone will encounter at least one in their lifetime, and chances are, a handful to varying degrees. 

However, I have noticed a significant difference between the highest performers and the average crowd: high performers do not wait to hit rock bottom to make changes in their lives. 

The problem with waiting until rock bottom is that you have a cavernous hole to dig yourself out of just to return to baseline, let alone achieve what we would consider high performance. 

The high-performing strategy is to continuously evolve and improve, building upon success and riding the wave of momentum to greater heights. 

Rather than waiting until your back is against the wall to bring out the best in you, learn how to grow and adjust before circumstances force you there. 

An Exercise In Change

Now, of course, this is easier said than done. If it were easy, it would be everyone's default. However, here is an exercise that can help you harness some of the power of rock bottom without the pain of actually reaching it. You can complete this exercise by writing it out by hand, opening a document on your computer, or simply reviewing it in your mind. 

However, writing it down is generally the most effective approach. 

Start by listing three to five areas of your life that you want to change or improve. Once you have those listed, narrow it down to the most critical area where you want to see the quickest changes. 

After identifying that number one area, take some time to write out what that rock bottom scenario looks like. What is the worst-case scenario if nothing changes? Be as detailed and visual as possible. You want to get close to experiencing rock bottom through this writing and visualization. The more detailed, the better. 

Once you have this rock bottom scenario, ask yourself a simple question: 

Am I willing to wait for rock bottom to make the necessary changes in this area? 

If yes, good luck; it will be a rocky road. 

If the answer is no, list some actions you can take immediately to change your trajectory in this area. 

While this may not be quite the same as hitting actual rock bottom, experiencing some level of pain in your mind can serve as a catalyst to propel you forward, knowing what is possible if you do not take action. 

One of the most potent ways to make those changes before hitting rock bottom is to go through the process we use with our Mindset & Performance Coaching Team.

Our most successful clients do not wait to hit rock bottom before taking action. Many people get this confused and say, "I don't need a mindset coach right now; things are going well." 

Our most successful clients start working with us not out of desperation but out of aspiration. They have a vision of where they want to be, and we help them turn that vision into reality. 

If that sounds like what you would like to achieve, click this link to apply for coaching. 

Because the truth when it comes to change is this:

No matter what you do you’re making a decision. The decision to change or the decision to stay the same.

The question is, which one will you choose?

See you next week,
Elliot Roe