I know you have probably started the year hoping for something new, or some positive change. The new you. Of course, and I wish this to every single of you. I’m no different by the way. But what I know by now is that although we want something different from last year, we aren’t really set up for it.
Sorry to be the bearer of sad news, but we are currently just the same as last year. I know you’re still with me here. We have the same thoughts, the same brain. Maybe some circumstances are changing for us: a new opportunity, a milestone, a red flag. What’s changed therefore is our willpower.
Unfortunately willpower isn’t the only ingredient necessary to make our goals come true. Or we would all have the dream job (and the other dreams – the weight, the money…). The rest is what we create in our brains. That ultimately drives the actions we undertake, and if we achieve a different outcome.
As coach Jim Fortin would say “you are your habits“. Or “you don’t get what you want, you get your habits”. Our mind is made up of 95% subconscious thoughts – meaning you are usually very much the same ‘you’. That you were last year, and the previous years. But these thoughts and patterns can be changed – absolutely. As soon as now.
The key point to get here is that unless you change something deep about yourself, you aren’t going to change your habits. And nothing much will change from there in your work life. This is why you’ve been meaning to get another job, to change careers or to start something new for a while. But for some reason you haven’t got around to it. That’s because you’ve just been you so far. Kind of not your fault.
It’s totally possible to change. But you have to be prepared to be different from the you you know. This requires the following:
- adopting new beliefs about what you can do
- switching from not-so-great emotions on a daily basis to more useful, motivating emotions
- changing some of your habits, especially in the way you have typically approached your issue
- being willing to push yourself when it does feel scary or terrible
In other words your best chance to get into a different situation is to become the non-traditional you. Because the current you likes the stability, the safety of what it knows. Even if that’s not pleasant, or fulfilling. I know that is paradoxical. The driver of the bus doesn’t have your best, happiest intentions at heart. It will just bring us more of what we know, following the same path.
But who you are at your core knows what would make you happy, and fulfilled. So the challenge is to override the programmed, bus-driver mentality that your brain has adopted. I bet if you look back at your past significant achievements, every single time you’ll see something you did differently. A risk you took, a different perspective. We rarely don’t change otherwise.
So let me ask you: if you want a different, better you this year – with the job that aligns with it – how will you make this happen? Just wanting it isn’t going to be enough. Life will happen to you, and you will react the same way you always did. This is why new year’s resolutions never last.
What new experiences, new paths or ways of thinking will you adopt this year to bring on the new you? What I can guarantee is that it doesn’t just take new actions – like reading a book, enrolling into a course or sending some e-mails. Think of it like new year = new attitude, in order for you to get the new you.
To achieve this new attitude, you need some awareness of your current one and what the new you would be thinking instead. You need to shake up the current you a little, and build on it. The best way I recommend you do this is by coaching together (find out more here) or take my self-paced online course the Career Game Plan (check it out here). Would the new you take these options up? See for yourself and start changing.
To the new you!
