The Principles of Personal Transformation: Easy DOES NOT Do It
Principle Two: Simple But Not Easy
IT'S SIMPLE
Only about a half dozen things make 80% of the difference in any area of our lives. - Jim Rohn
The second principle of personal transformation is that it’s SIMPLE. It's not complicated.
That said, so often we fail to grow in life (spiritually, mentally, emotionally, financially, etc.) because we equate “simple” with “easy”.
In this article I wrote early last year, we looked at the difference between taking the easy way and the simple (not so easy) process of persevering toward a desired goal:
While these concepts may overlap, they are not the same.
Simple means “uncomplicated”. Easy means “not difficult”.
I worked in or around the military for most of my career. Acronyms were used for almost everything. Acronyms provide a simple and effective way to help us to remember people, procedures, and processes.
In the excellent book, The Slight Edge, Jeff Olson says, “The secret ingredient is your philosophy.
We must change our thinking to transform our lives.
Now, where have you heard that before? Hmmm?
Olson says the problem is that “what is easy to do is also easy NOT to do”.
When things get difficult, we just quit. We don’t want to put in the effort, go through the trials, or make the sacrifice. If our goal is Personal Transformation, particularly later in life, then quitting is not an option.
So, to carry on the concept in this series, we will use an acronym to help remember that Transformation is a simple process that consists of three elements: Education, Action, and Motivation.
T E A M
This is a simple way to stay focused on what we need to do. Doing it will not be easy - Education, Action, and Motivation all take perseverance, hard work, and sacrifice. The question is whether we are willing.
Most will say no and stay trapped, as I wrote about last year in Living the Dream - The Trap of Comfortable Misery.
Putting our acronym into an equation will help to stay on track:
Transformation=Education+Action+Motivation
We’ll cover each part of the equation separately when we get into the Process of Personal Transformation.
Once you decide that where you want to go with your life is possible, the process is quite simple:
Education: Figure out how to accomplish it.
Action: Make a plan and do what is necessary to bring it to pass.
Motivation: Have a clear vision of where you want your plan to take you and keep yourself focused on achieving your goal until it is accomplished.
This process is simple, but please understand that “simple” does not mean “easy”. Most worthy things in life require a lot of self-discipline and hard work.
Financial advisor and coach Dave Ramsey's trademark tag-line sums it up:
If you live like no one else will today, you can LIVE LIKE NO ONE ELSE can tomorrow.
Next week, I’ll introduce the third Principle of Personal Transformation - It’s Quick.
Now, I know some will say I am contradicting what I wrote in -
But, what I mean here is that once we have gone through all the preparations to become ready (the 20 years part), things will begin to happen very quickly (the Overnight Transformation part).
Thank you for subscribing to Life UnCorked where the focus is on successfully navigating the issues of life from a Christian point of view.
While you’re here, check out my creative writing ‘Stack: The Talking Pen, where you’ll find fiction & non-fiction stories, poetry, art, and personal musings that illustrate the struggles, tragedies, and triumphs of life.
Well done Cork! A great lesson for all, regardless of their age!