When ready, pick the next thing, or two

Keep focusing on one or two changes for quite a while, longer than you think. Keep at it for at least six months or a year, until you feel they are embedded into your life and a part of you.

Keep going until it’s no longer an intentional habit, but almost automatic. Until you wake-up one day and realize you are transformed in some significant way.

Then, and only then, move to the next thing. 

You might focus next on another habit, or a realistic but meaningful achievement.

In my case, I decided to create a stone path in my backyard, so my two boys could more easily get up and down our hill. The first step was to lay the first stone.

In the midst of childcare & full-time work during the pandemic, each stone I added was a physical representation of the love I had for my boys, along with what progress in any area of my life could look like.

Over the course of an entire year, sometimes with my 2 or 5 year old digging alongside, at least fifty stones were laid to complete the path.

The first time I walked the entire length of the path with my two boys, I felt so deeply alive and a true, gritty sense of pride. Unlike before, I was able to relish in and experience profound ownership over this achievement.

This time, instead of allowing life to lead me toward obligations, I harnessed an intrinsic motivation to create something beautiful and meaningful.

In this moment I began to believe in my ability to achieve whatever I most wanted to.

So, now I’d love to know: which two stones will you lay first? 

If you could use support to choose or maintain a project near and dear to your heart, learn more about our benefits-covered coaching here.