Volume 1 of 5 in the “Change” Series
This blog is the first of a series I’m writing on a topic very dear to my heart. When I was in the worst stages of my life, I was lost, alone, and had all but given up. Then a small group of moral Men stepped in who were willing to help me. Not by throwing money at my problems, but by helping me clean up the mistakes I had made. They helped me learn how to evaluate and change the circumstances and choices which had led me to where I was. They helped me change “who” I was. That change was the catalyst which started a whole new life.
In this series, I plan to share the three most effective elements I have found which cause change. Each element has an explanation, and I will go deeper with each topic in their respective blogs.
The three elements of change, or as I like to call them “The three “I’s” of change,” are Influence, Impact, and Inspiration. When used correctly these three elements can effect profound change to anyone’s life..
So, why is change important?
It seems strange that so many people fear change, because change “is” life. If things never changed, we would never grow. There would be no new experiences, and no adventures to tell. There would be nothing to anticipate, and nothing to get us excited. Change is the very thing we look for in everyday life. If we got a letter in the mail saying we just received $100,000 we would welcome the change. If we got a letter saying we owed someone $100,000 we would hate the change. Often, people become so afraid of bad change they try to stop any change at all. The problem is, life “is” change. Change will occur somehow and someway in your life. You cannot hide from it. So, a better choice would be to control as much of it as possible.
Change can bring new challenges and excitement, but it can also bring pain and misery. As we settle into a routine for our life we tend to become complacent. Rather than looking for the next adventure, or allowing ourselves to be curious, we start hearing the voice of caution in our ear.
As children, we are always curious about what is behind the closed door? What new adventure is taking place in the lives of our loved ones? How can we be a part of it? As we grow we are told “NO” so often in our life it becomes our default answer. Eventually, we stop trying to learn new things.
Let me be clear; I am in no way saying you should just throw caution to the wind, but there is a difference between caution and stagnation. In the Disney Pixar movie Finding Nemo, Dory makes a simple but profound statement to Marlin when he is describing his desire not to let anything happen to Nemo. Dory says, “Well you can’t never let anything happen to him. Then nothing would ever happen to him.”
The truth is anything you wish you could have, do, see, or be, requires change to occur. The fear of change is a fear which will hold people back from living a full and abundant life.
In the next few blogs, I hope to share how I view each of the three “I’s” of change. How they work individually, how they work together, and how best to apply them. I’ve learned doing so will help anyone become more open to change and help them control some of the growth in their life.
The basis I draw from these points of view are nothing more than my own experiences and reflections. I am not writing these blogs in an attempt to become a subject matter expert on the concept of change. I am merely testifying to how these elements changed my life.
Through change, I was able to go from a man who hurt everyone in my life, lost all of my money, and failed at the very things I had sacrificed my money and relationships trying to get; into the man I am today. While change did occur in my life, it was the influence, impact, and inspiration of others which guided my growth. Eventually, they taught me to take control of such measures myself.
I am, and will forever be, eternally grateful to the people who stepped in to fill those roles in my life. While I know I can never repay their contributions I do hope that by helping others achieve the same I can at least bring more value to what they accomplished.
I hope this series will be of use to anyone feeling like they are stuck or lost, and in need of finding a way out of difficult times. If these views are not needed at the present, then I hope they will better prepare others to better face future struggles.
For more on each of the other topics in this “Change” series review their respective blogs listed below:
Change is Influence (2 of 5)
Change is Impact (3 o 5))
Change is Inspiration (4 of 5)
Change the World (5 of 5)
