Change Life

So recently in a few of my last couple of blogs I’ve been focusing on becoming something that we are not and changing who we are in order to achieve greater success.  I’d like to continue on this topic for one more week because I believe it is a powerful concept and that if we truly embrace it and accept it, it will change our life. 

Regrettably I think most of us don’t get it.  Just the other day I was talking with a close friend who was very frustrated with how things were going for him in life.  He was frustrated with his work, he was frustrated with his family relationships, and he was frustrated that things were turning out for him as he had hoped.  When I asked him what he thought he needed to do to perhaps improve his current circumstances and outcomes, everything he told me had to do with something outside of himself.  He wanted things around him to change but it seemed to me that he did not want to change himself.  Unfortunately, what my friend failed to understand is that when we change ourselves, everything around us changes.

My friend is not unique in his ideas and thoughts as most of us tend to believe if things changed around us, life would be better.  Sadly we often tell ourselves ‘if our spouse would change, or if our boss would change, or if our neighbor would change, or if our school would change (etc.)…, then would we be happy, then we could be successful, then we could move forward, then things would be better for us (etc.).’  Rather than waiting for others or things around us to change, we need to refocus our efforts on changing ourselves because the only person we can control in life is ourselves.    

So though blaming unhappiness and a lack of success on things outside of ourselves is so common let’s avoid it because it only leads to stress, frustration, and sometimes even depression and hopelessness. If we decide our life’s success and happiness is solely based on things outside of ourselves, we are leaving our success and happiness completely up to chance.  

Rather than rely on the external world to change, we should instead begin to change ourselves from within.  After all, real change in our life begins with us—it always starts from within.  And only when change happens within can we progress toward real results and happiness.    

And that’s the key.  Our life results and happiness can only be blamed on one person and that is yours truly.  Let’s change ourselves and as we do, we will change the world around us for good.