Change What You're Doing, Change Your Results
I skipped a week.
Some of you might have noticed. Some of you probably didn't even bat an eye. I sat down to write my blog Sunday and I had nothing (and everything) to say. I was attempting to write on clarity and yet nothing was coming out clearly of my head or from my fingers into the keyboard. I was far from clear! Over the past week, I got some clarity and what came out is this idea of spinning wheels. Do you ever feel like you're walking through life but you just can't seem to get anywhere? Like you're thinking you're on the road moving forward but you're actually on the treadmill? I'd been feeling a lot like that. Stuck. About a month ago, I was sitting at a gas station and looked over to see a UPS driving trying to start his truck. He kept trying over and over again to turn the key, yet nothing was changing. It was like he couldn't see that doing the same thing over and over wasn't going to change his situation. I'd call that stuck! How often in our lives are we that UPS driver?
How often are we doing the same thing over and over, yet expecting different results?
I do this when it comes to my business. I will plan and schedule my week and then let that plan change or shift as things comes up. For example, I need to be writing content for my yoga teacher training coming up in January, so I schedule out a block of time to write it. When that block of time is here, Tim is home and he asks me a question, which leads to me checking my schedule, which then leads to me looking at all the other tasks I have to do, all the classes I have to schedule, and then all of a sudden that chunk of time is gone and I'm no further along in writing content. I'm planning and scheduling the time, but then allowing myself to get distracted, and then expecting that I'll still somehow get the content done. It just doesn't work that way! How often are you in the same boat? Where are you:
Having the same conversation on repeat with your partner and hoping somehow they'll hear what you're saying differently next time?
Wanting to see your friends yet hinting at getting together rather than actually making a plan?
Wondering when life got so damn busy but saying yes to everything?
Saying the same thing on repeat isn't going to make it land differently. Hinting to our friends isn't going to help them catch the hint. Saying yes to everything isn't going to make us less busy. Allowing myself to be distracted isn't going to help me write my content.
When we feel stuck or like we're spinning our wheels, or like we're that UPS driver and just hoping for a miracle, THAT is the moment to take a step back, look at our lives, and see what might need to change.
The change doesn't have to be monumental. Really, all it would take would be for me to tell Tim what I need to get done, go into a room with a door I can shut, and things might turn out differently! Where do you start if you feel unsure? Start by getting present. Do something that gets you out of your head and into your body. Go for a walk, play a song and dance, do some yoga, meditate. Then, sit down, pull out your journal, set a timer for 10 minutes, write, and answer these questions: Where am I stuck? What I am doing or not doing around those situations? Keep writing even when you feel like you have nothing to say, and see what comes up. Maybe you'll see some pattern you have that you didn't even know was there. Maybe you'll uncover a new situation you didn't see before, or you'll come up with a creative solution. You have the power, the chance, the opportunity... to shift your life at any moment. You can stop spinning your wheels, stop turning the key over in the engine hoping for a miracle, and to actually be the miracle for yourself, by doing something different than what you've been doing. Remember: it doesn't have to be monumental. It could be as simple as shutting a door. Be on the lookout for those opportunities this week.