Are you overwhelmed by the thought?
I’ve often thought that transformation carries much the same connotation as hypnosis in people’s minds. Everyone is quite convinced they can’t do it. They aren’t smart enough, talented enough, or innocent enough to achieve it. Usually, people will tell me (very irritably) that they have tried and tried to change, and they’re tired. “I’ve done so much work and I’m tired of having to work on yet another thing. At what point is my work done?”
Here’s the answer: If you want a life filled with adventure and joy; if you want to evolve and grow, the journey never ends. And why would you want it to?
Well … okay. I can understand why if you’ve associated transformation with hard work, struggle and little reward. But maybe, just maybe, the tools of transformation you’ve been using haven’t been that effective because you’ve been approaching it the wrong way?
Maybe it’s time to try something different?
A New Approach
If you look up the current usage of the word “transformation” in America’s largest dictionary, you’ll find multiple definitions. Some point to “a thorough or dramatic change,” while others highlight smaller, practical shifts. What’s interesting is how language itself reminds us that transformation doesn’t always have to mean a mystical, life-shattering event.
- Write down what transformation means to you. What does it look like, feel like, or sound like?
- Have you ever had a transformational experience? What did that look like, feel like, or sound like?
I bet a lot of you answered the first prompt by saying that major change is this BIG BANG! experience that occurs with trumpets sounding and angels singing, where you levitate and suddenly understand the origin of the universe and how it was made … or something like that.
Yes? No? And then, because of this, maybe your second answer was “I haven’t had one.”
If you answered that way, please know this basic misunderstanding is one of the main reasons people think transformation is beyond them. It’s been made out to be this enormous mystical or religious experience that shakes the very foundations of life, changing everything. And how scary is that? Maybe you don’t want the foundations of your life leveled. Right? Maybe you just want to learn how to be more abundant or find the right career.
Well, here’s the good news. Yes, occasionally, when the time is right and the person is ready, BIG AHA’s that change everything do happen. But MOST the time transformation is far more mundane and practical.
Fun-Filled Transformation
The truth is, everyone has transformational experiences all the time—small simple experiences that trigger instant transformation, rewiring the brain from a state of inability to capability. For example, think about the first time you learned to ride a bicycle. The moment you found your balance and started truly riding, your neural networks exploded. Exhilaration! Speed! Wind-in-your-hair mastery!
Suddenly, you had more than one way of getting around on your own. And, oh, the freedom and the joy of independence! The possibilities might even have felt overwhelming for a brief while. But soon the overwhelm gave way to joy and a sense of accomplishment.
From the first bike lesson to that moment, in a very short time, you went from being shaky and terrified to experiencing a sense of mastery. From nervous to the world being your oyster. Despite a few spills and scraped knees, you transformed! And it was so worth it.
And the transformation continued.
Pretty soon, you were doing wheelies and casually riding without hands, looking for new tricks to learn. You were committed to transformation and didn’t even know it was transformation because, as a kid, experiential goals are naturally exciting. But as an adult? As an adult, goals all too often become a chore. Instead of saying, “I get to____” (fill in the blank) we say, “I have to____” (fill in the blank). And don’t you know “have to” sucks the fun and energy out of everything!
Which means one of the key pieces to easily achieving goals and transforming is switching from the put-upon “have to” to embracing the notion “I get to.”
You are supremely capable of transforming. You do it all the time unconsciously. To do it consciously, try approaching your next “To Do” or goal like you did learning to ride your first bike. Go back to your childhood and find the place where you had a burst of fun-filled growth because you were excited about learning something new. You’re simply doing the grown-up version of that. Rather than resisting your brain’s activity focused on a “goal,” you are allowing yourself to attain what we call a peak state of flow. You’ve turned the “youth switch” back on and have totally reoriented yourself.
And don’t you know that change in perspective transforms everything in a hurry!
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