Why don’t we make important changes in our lives? Common reasons and ways to overcome them - part 3

Written by Nyomi Graef
 
I’m too tired. I’m ill. I don’t know what to do. Sound familiar? They are common reasons why we don’t make important changes. They can all be valid, but at times they are just flimsy excuses stopping us from creating the lives that we deserve and desire.
 
Move from thinking about and preparing for positive changes to actually making them. Use ideas in part 3 of this series about conquering barriers to change (below) to guide you.
 
Hard to break bad habits
What’s your bad habit? Sugar? Junk food? Soft drinks? Something else? Acknowledge destructive habits and swap them with life-enhancing ones. How? Read my blog post about this topic for ideas: Want to boost your chance of success? Swap bad habits with good habits. 

Illnesses and injuries
Yes illnesses and injuries can slow us down and, at times, stop our ability to make changes. But don't let them get us off track for long. Let's take exercise as an example. Most of us are probably aware that the wrong types of exercises can worsen injuries and illnesses, but many problems/conditions can improve with the right type of exercises. For example, lots of people with arthritis benefit from aqua aerobics, and walking can improve many illnesses, including heart disease and osteoporosis (brittle bones). Make informed choices when choosing exercises, so you don’t worsen any condition that you have. Ask relevant health/exercise professionals, if you need to.
 
Low energy, enthusiasm and motivation
Overcome the underlying causes of these three elements to power through to success.
 
Is the cause mental/physical/emotional/spiritual/financial/social/environmental...?
 
Some common root causes of lack of energy include:

• past failures so, for example, no faith in ourselves/no hope to achieve our goals
• illnesses, such as chronic pain, depression, anxiety, and anaemia (a low level of iron in the body)
• lack of sleep
• lack of money
• lack of social support

 
Maybe a visit to your doctor for a health check is needed? Or developing better budgeting skills? Or getting out and about to be social and make more friends? Do what it takes to boost your motivation and energy to make worthwhile life changes.
 
Lack of skills/knowledge/resources/support
If we lack any of these, then increase them. Upskill/get a mentor/gather support... do what we must do but, obviously, also be reasonable, ethical and so on.
 
Bad decisions and confusion caused by too many choices
Too many choices can stop us making good decisions. We are bombarded with what to think, say and do from experts, friends and family... —​ what is best? It can be confusing! So instead of making good decisions, we can just stick with what we are familiar with or perhaps make a hasty bad decision, even though it might be harming us.
 
Make informed and reasonable decisions that can lead to positive changes. If the results aren’t good, then adapt or change our strategies.
 
Great leaders are great decision makers. Top business people/managers, and so on, make many decisions every day. Their results don’t always work out as well as hoped, but a vital part of their jobs is to be decision makers. Be a leader of your life —​ make wise decisions and follow through with positive changes.
 
Environmental/social/other factors that hinder positive change
There are so many other factors that block change that fall into this category. What areas of your life can you adapt to better support change? Ask yourself questions such as:

• Is my home/work area/study area/exercise area supporting the changes that I want to make?
• Is junk food too convenient and hard to resist?
• Do my friends and family eat junk food often, so if I changed my eating habits it would be hard to eat with them?

Then, for relevant areas, ask ourselves what can we do to solve the problems. Find good solutions and implement them.
 
Summary
For us to make changes it’s important to:

• swap bad habits with good habits
• not let injuries and illnesses stop us from making changes
• have high energy, enthusiasm and motivation
• have enough skills, knowledge, resources and support for change to occur
• make smart and informed decisions
• adapt or change our environment/social circle, and so on, to make change easier for us

“Change will not come if we wait for some other person, or if we wait for some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.” - Barack Obama