As I shared in my last blog post, I am in the beginning stages of a transformation challenge. This challenge brought about the idea of becoming the best version of yourself. But I decided that to truly become the best version of myself I needed more than an external change. I needed to do some internal work as well. The next 4 months will be my journey to find exactly that… the best version of myself, both internally and externally. And to my surprise, I’ve already experienced much change.
Since my late teens I have been a self help junkie. Research, books, podcasts, whatever I could get my hands on. Yet, no matter what I learned my patterns remained the same. My information intake high and my change minimal. But today I had an epiphany. I realized that without action my intake is meaningless. Hell, I’ve probably read it a hundred times, but of all the books and all the podcasts, I have regretfully omitted the most important piece of the help- action.
It came to me today as I was at the library in search of my next read. I had a book in mind, but when I picked it up I was immediately overwhelmed by its size and complexity so I began scanning the other options with similar topics. After walking several rows and reading the titles and inside covers of about 25 books, I realized that I had no idea what it was that I was actually looking for. Sure, I went in with a book in mind, but after thinking about why I had selected that particular book I had no idea. And then between the sections on Meditation and God, my internal questioning began…
What was I looking for? How did I want to improve my life? Why did I want to improve my life? What needed improving? Even deeper… Am I looking to confirm current beliefs? Or do I want to explore other ideas?
Needless to say, I left the library empty handed. I decided that I have done enough intake for a while and that it is time that I do a little output instead. Journaling, prayer, meditation, being in nature, talking with loved ones, doing things for others, living in the present moment, answering some of the questions that bubbled to the surface in the library. Begin taking actions to propel me forward rather than reading about what it looks like. Perhaps it is simple as ending my search for the perfect solutions, focus on daily progress and enjoy this beautiful life I’ve been gifted with.
If I’ve learned anything from my years of self help reading it’s that the answers we are all looking for are already inside of us. We just have to look and listen and TRUST what we see and hear. Time to look, listen, TRUST and take action.
A Pinch of Opinion 