Four Workouts For Change | They Hurt So Good
You know that feeling after a hard workout when your muscles hurt, but they actually feel really good? Your physical effort was intended to make a change, and your pain tells you that something happened. Rather than fear the pain, we welcome it.
A similar paradigm exists when we step into a journey of personal transformation. Sure, there will be pain along the way, but the pain serves us in becoming something new. Here are four “workout” areas that I recommend exploring to speed you on your way when seeking personal or professional transformation.
Focus: When you have declared a vision for change in your work or life, you have a place to direct your focus. Holding that focus through the many distractions, twists and turns of your day requires developing focus practices, and these take time and effort. Powerful mind and body efforts, like meditation and yoga, are proven to strengthen your ability to hold attention and focus. Getting into a regular practice of focus improvement will have you strong and ready when you commit to making a change in your life.
Intention: I’ve written about “The Intention Habit” before, and this is a practice that pays HUGE dividends. It’s really simple: When we are clear about what we want to achieve in any conversation or engagement, we are far more likely to get it. Build the habit of checking in with your intentions, and you’ll be amazed by what happens.
Inquiry: Never underestimate the power of a well-crafted question to move you forward. Questions are how we unlock knowledge, connection and possibility. Here’s a piece I wrote on the power of questions, and another from Inc. magazine on skillful questioning. Learn about and practice powerful inquiry, and you’ll transform so much faster.
Story: Your story is everything, and telling it well is essential to moving forward in life. This takes practice, and it requires tuning in to what happens in response to your telling. When our storytelling muscles are strong, we go places.
As my coaching practice has evolved, I’ve come to see all of the changes we choose in work and life through the lens of transformation. When we declare that we want something new, something bigger, something better, we are at the beginning of changing ourselves.
I love watching people become something new … which inevitably requires them to push through the occasional pain it takes to get there. It’s good pain.
David
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