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What if rather than trying to change your whole life, you just committed to changing one little thing?
As a Life Coach, I live in the personal development space. I consistently digest material that speaks to how we can live up to our potential, create the life of our dreams, or transform in some miraculous fashion into the human we aspire to be.
Many of my clients come to me wanting to improve how they feel about themselves and their lives. Yet while personal development is a wonderful thing, it can also just make us feel like we’re failing in too many ways to count.
When a client comes to me with an ominous list of, things they know they should do, my advice is always the same. Rather than add more tasks to the already full “to-do” lists and burden themselves with more obligations, I ask this one question:
What is one simple change we can focus your efforts on, that you already know will make a big difference in your life?
That’s it — one little thing. The rest can move to the side for the time being.
The reason this works so well is all to do with momentum — or the Positive Snowball Effect. Once we get moving in the right direction we:
Rather than forcing ourselves into the Person we aspire to be, we rather find ourselves traveling with a relative ease in that direction all by taking a simple small action.
We are no longer in a battle against ourselves to get going. The feeling of achievement that comes from this forward momentum is an essential precursor to sustained personal growth. Baby steps really do lead to big gains.
So rather than being overwhelmed by all the things you feel you should do, I encourage you to ask this simple question of yourself — What is the one seemingly small thing that you know deep down will help you start moving forward again?
Start there, and don’t expect anything more of yourself. Simply sit back and enjoy the ride while you let the Snowball Effect take hold.
Originally published on Thrive Global: https://thriveglobal.com/stories/one-question-to-ask-yourself-to-greatly-improve-your-life/
Working parents are living through not merely a global pandemic but a new version of the work/life balance conundrum. Parents of school-age children all over the country are trying to manage distance learning for their kids while also keeping up with work obligations and maintaining their sanity. As psychologist Heather Beckett puts it, we’re amid a COVID-induced work/life muddle that is unlike anything we’ve experienced before.
The American Psychological Association acknowledges this crisis creates “extreme stress” and highlights that parents are reporting significantly higher stress levels than their non-parent counterparts. Recent data suggests that Google searches have shifted away from concerns around COVID itself at the beginning of the pandemic to how we can deal with everything else that comes with it.
All working parents know this is hard, but what can we actually do to make ourselves feel better? Popular go-to stress management approaches encourage us to take up meditation, start doing more yoga, or peacefully inhale a few deep breaths to recenter ourselves. Yet when the pressure is mounting, the to-do list is never-ending, and you have a child in the background playing a recorder poorly during an online music class, being encouraged to take a deep breath or stretch it out does not feel useful. It’s like telling an enraged human to calm down—it’s unlikely to be received well. Practical approaches that make a noticeable difference are what we’re all craving…
Often our emotions can feel all encompassing, and can sneakily convince us that they are running the show. When we bring a level of awareness to our moods, we do in fact have the ability to help shake things and take actions that will stop us from spiraling even further into a funk.
Self-care is an essential precursor to well-being. Yet in order to practice self-care that truly fills up your well-being bucket, you first need to know what it is that has the ability to bring you real joy. This post will help you answer the question: “So what is it you like to do for fun?”
A great way to re-center yourself, and remind your busy mind what you believe and want to align with, is to hold a few reaffirming mantras close.
Here are 21 that you can revisit whenever you need a reminder.
