If you listen to popular wisdom, especially as expressed in movies and TV shows, profound change comes from profound events. The reality, though, is somewhat different.
While some people face life-changing events, most of what defines and redefines us as people is not the stuff of big-budget epic movies, but rather the boring, mundane stuff of everyday life.
How can we grab hold of those little things that say so much about who we are -- and use them to move us closer to who we want to be? We have to go through an ongoing process that involves:
1. Discovery
The key to change in your life -- and really, the key to satisfaction as well -- is self-knowledge. Take some time to go over and record the moments that reflect problems you’re dealing with, as well as the moments that are typically “you.” The idea is to see patterns emerge. These patterns will be the grist for your analytical mill in the next stage.
2. Analysis
Look at your inventory of “totally you” moments -- what do they say about who you are? Now, who do you want to be? What’s meaningful for you, what values do you want to realize in your daily life?
3. Intention
At this point, it’s time to think about change: what do you intend to do about all this? The trick here is to be positive, not negative. It’s important that you find the motivation and intention within yourself if you’re to make real change that sticks. Doing things because you know others think they’re what you should do, or worse, to “show them,” might get a short-term shift out of you, but over the long term isn’t likely to be very satisfying -- or self-sustaining.
Personal change is hard, and harder still because there’s so much little stuff going on in our lives that all push and pull us in different directions. Which is precisely why it’s so important to pay attention to the little things, no matter how trivial they might seem.
Original Article: Little Things to Help You Succeed in Life
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