In this episode I answer a question that I was asked on how to be motivated on a daily basis. This podcast is about failure, mindset and correcting the way we celebrate in our life.
(This is the core of the transcript from the podcast. The Intro has been removed and some areas improved for reading ease.)
Hello and a great day to all of you in podcast land, I hope the day is going exceptionally well for you. Dr. Lalit Chawla here and in this episode, I’m going to answer a question I got from Michael:
“how do you create the momentum and the excitement of daily changes and not lose that sense of newness when you first start making that change? Sometimes it seems hard to be enthusiastic about the day to day changes I’m making even though I know why I need to and how to do it.”
“How do you create the momentum and the excitement of daily changes and not lose that sense of newness when you first start making that change? Sometimes it seems hard to be enthusiastic about the day to day changes I’m making even though I know why I need to and how to do it.”
That’s a great question Michael and that scenario is really quite a common thing that happens and something that is happening right now, in the season we are in. Right now we are heading into fall and how I want to answer that question is by first talking about fall/autumn. People are cleaning up their summer stuff, closing their pools, children are back at elementary school and into high school. We just took our son to his elementary school and our daughter to her new high school. People are heading to universities and colleges as they start and develop their new careers and explore their new path. I don’t know about you, but don’t you find that fall is really like the beginning of a new year and there is something exciting about it.
Every fall, to me is really a new time and essentially a new year. And it’s a time for new changes. And when I took my daughter to her new high school, she was excited about the new schools and opportunities. I was excited and nervous about how she was going to find things and curious if she’ll wake with the same level of excitement about the new day. And I started thinking that really many times we as human beings are nervously excited when we start something new and exciting. In that spirit of newness, we are also joyful about the new change we want to make and we have the kind of excitement that you have when you know you’re going on a vacation, or going to get something you’ve earned.
Do you know what I’m mean? I’m not talking about the kind of change where you don’t know if your boss or the environment is going to overwhelm you in a negative way, but the excitement you have when it’s something you are looking forward to. The kind of excitement that charges you up. So back to the question, “how do you create the momentum and the excitement of daily changes and not lose that sense of newness when you first started making that change? Sometimes it seems hard to be enthusiastic about the day to day changes I’m making”.
In that spirit of newness, we are also joyful about the new change we want to make...
So, I’ll answer this question in 2 parts, and the second part will help answer the question with a bit of pretext.
So, here’s my take:
1. Focus only on changing 1% daily. For the majority of us it is difficult for us to change our whole life, implement a new habit or behaviour by trying to be the “new you” immediately. So often we try to change a habit or implement a new change in a big way and for many of us we will stumble and fall short and feel frustrated and then quit.
So for example, if you’ve never ran before, you don’t start running for 60 min 3 times a week just because that’s your end goal. If you are trying to quit eat poorly and try to eat 100% healthy all the time, you’ll feel miserable unless you have great meal regimen, support and structure. And in that process of change, we will be making those small tangible changes and wins so that you succeed. And what I’m trying to say is that it is important to set up small tangible wins daily and focus on improving yourself 1% daily in what you are trying to accomplish. I call it the 1% principle,
Focus only of changing 1% daily. Set ups small tangible wins on improving yourself...in a year that's a 365% change
Look at the moment to moment events in your life because in reality that’s all we can control is our moment to moment thoughts and actions. Take time out of the equation.
The second principle:
Remember to Celebrate your Wins! Remember to celebrate the 1 % change you’ve made daily. Daily celebration is the key to feeling that you are moving in the right direction. Failure and disappointment comes when our focus is on long term results without celebrating or focusing on short term goals.
For the most part, in the western culture we only celebrate certain milestones. The end of something, the beginning of a goal or the end goal or achievement. We forget the little steps we took along the way. We forget the daily steps we take moment by moment.
So the question I’ll ask you is “why do we not celebrate the new challenges and daily victories or daily beginnings the same way and same vigor as when we achieve a 10, 25 year milestone event or when we go back to school, or start a new year. Why do we wait for birthdays to celebrate people and not do it on a daily basis?
We live in a culture of limited celebration and I really believe that impedes our ability to grow and improve on a daily basis.
So what I’m getting at is that we need to celebrate our wins on a daily basis. No matter how big or small they are. Especially when it comes to changing something that we want to create in our lives, and especially once we know Why we want to make that change, We can try big changes, but for most people it won’t last unless they are highly motivated and have lots of supports and systems in place. If you have that, then that’s awesome, but even then, I’m sure you’re celebrating your daily success, but remember for the vast majority of people, change happens at small levels.
Remember the 1% change principle and add that new way of thinking and celebrate your little wins, because the road to success is built with one step at a time.
Failure and disappointment comes when our focus is on long term results without celebrating or focusing on short term goals.
Thank you for listening and I would love to hear what your 1% daily goal and celebration you are working on? How do you celebrate?
If you’ve enjoyed listening to this podcast, please share with a friend or colleague and subscribe to us Apple podcast, Spotify or your favourite podcast app.
And please don’t forget to leave a rating, I know it’ seems like a small thing, but it really makes a difference in terms of helping others find this podcast. I’m Dr. Lalit Chawla and thank you so much for listening. Let’s together make a greater more effective community and inspire people to live with Greater Harmony, Joy and Magic in their lives.
Tell me what you liked about this podcast and what would you like to hear in future episodes?
Have a super day!
Lalit
I would love to hear any comments about this podcast and what would you like to hear in future episodes?