The Principles of Personal Transformation: The Rabbit Doesn't Always Win
Principle Three: When Slow Looks Fast
Quick vs. Fast
Personal Transformation requires much more than willing ourselves to change.
As we’ve seen in Principle One - It’s Possible, our mindset plays a huge part in changing our circumstances. We won't leave the starting gate until we believe something is possible. But there’s more to it than just believing. We must see that it is doable.
When we mentally embrace the possibility of change, we find, as outlined in Principle Two - It’s Simple, that the process is not complicated - We can do it. This does not mean it will be easy, however.
Today’s post will cover one more Principle - It’s Quick- before transitioning to the Process of Personal Transformation.
Most of us are familiar with Aesop’s Fable of The Tortoise & The Hare, where the Hare learned a hard lesson - "Don't brag about your lightning pace, for Slow and Steady won the race!"
Ecclesiastes 9:11 reminds us that “the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong …”
I know you may think that I am contradicting what was said in Part Two: The Twenty-Year Overnight Transformation Plan, but what I want to point out in this post is that quick does not mean fast.
As we saw in that post, overnight success takes a long time. But when it does happen, it appears to be a quick process to the uninformed observer:
With that being said, certain life transformations do appear to be sudden, out-of-the-blue experiences. We may not understand them when they happen, so we try to make sense by assigning them to randomness or coincidence.
Many, however, refer to the bringing of our experiences and circumstances together in a particular “Eureka” moment as Providence.
I would agree. But, even the hand of Providence (which I believe is the will of Almighty God) is conditioned upon the readiness of the person receiving it.
We have all known those who, like a sparkler, start with a bright flare of sparks, yet when they find out it is not as easy as they thought, they fizzle out. They lose interest and quit.
They’re the ones who were voted “most likely to succeed” in High School but ended up never seeming to accomplish anything of significance.
Or maybe it’s someone with a lot of outward Charisma, but cannot hold a long-lasting relationship. They are short on work ethic. They’re not willing to go the long haul. Maybe at some point in our lives, we have been that person. I know I have.
But, this post is not about those who quit. It is about those who persevere.
A well-known Ralph Waldo Emerson quote is “Do the thing and you shall have the power.” Those who persevere until their desired goal is achieved are those who “do the thing”, so they gain power to do more.
In his second letter to young Timothy, the Apostle Paul said,
God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, of love, and of a sound mind. - 2nd Timothy 1:7
The word power can be rendered confidence, strength, or ability. When we endeavor to do something and succeed we gain new strength and ability to continue doing the things we have been given the opportunity to do..
The reward is that when the time comes, our transformation into becoming the person we desire to be becomes a reality.
To the casual onlooker, it may look as if this person just falls into fortune and has the “Midas Touch”. What they don’t see are the preceding years of toil, training, heartache, misfortune, tragedy, and disappointment.
Do the thing and you shall have the power - Ralph Waldo Emerson
So, while personal transformation, whether spiritual or otherwise, may seem to happen quickly, there has, no doubt, been years (or more) of preparation beforehand.
If we have embraced the Principles of Personal Transformation: It’s Possible, Simple, and Quick, then we can intelligently create and implement our own Process of Personal Transformation - a plan to get where we want to go.
With that in mind, I want to introduce an equation or formula that, if followed, will serve as a framework to create a plan and achieve the changes we desire.
T=E+A+M
T = Transformation
E = Education
A = Action
M = Motivation
The next several posts will break down each part and show how they interact to make personal transformation a reality over and over again.
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Good stuff, Cork. Stay the course!