2 Practices That Can Transform Your Life
Tracy Frenyea 
All transformation processes begin somewhere. I’m suggesting here that it begins inside you. Learn how to begin with these two practices.
Two Practices That Can Transform Your Life
We all have so much going on these days - taking care of others, the house, our jobs, social engagements… Often we, ourselves, end up last on the list, and now I’m going to ask you to slow down. I recognize that’s probably the last thing you wanted to hear!
But you’re likely reading this because you are interested in change, in transforming your life. A hard fact of life is that:
Slowing down is the only way to begin transformation.
Consider this: How many times have you jumped in (and I mean a full-out-cannonball) to something that was definitely going to change your life? Think about what transpired…
It’s just a guess but here’s what I think happened:
You got excited
You read all the things
You bought all the things
You took on the challenge 100%
You told everyone about it
You followed the rules
You were committed
You did it every day
A few weeks, or months (if you were lucky) went by… And then:
You didn’t see progress soon enough.
The goal started looking so far away.
Your excitement started to wane.
Your motivation started to slip.
Life started creeping in.
You skipped a day (or two).
You no longer saw the point of it all.
You stopped because it just no longer felt good.
And by the way, there is nothing wrong with stopping because something starts to feel less than good.
Your hopes of transformation are dashed.
And you blame yourself… (that’s a whole other story we can explore).
And you feel like crap.
And you look for yet another way to change your life.
How many times have you been in this cycle?
I’ve been through it a few times, myself, so I understand what it feels like. And I’ve learned how to break the cycle’s grip.
The key is: Get REALLY clear on what you REALLY want out of life - I mean BIG PICTURE.
To do this, slow down and taking things one step at a time. And to me, this means it’s essential to first learn more about yourself than you’ve ever done before.
Yes, this takes work; consistent work, but in little doses so we don’t burn out.
In fact, let’s not call it “work.” How about we approach transformation as a series of new practices - trying on new ideas, perspectives, and behaviors.
Would you be willing to try practicing? After all, what is “homework” … a way for students to practice what they learn.
You can become a student of YOU.
What kind of practices?
Awareness is a key practice. In fact, it will immensely help with the next practice - reflection. By practicing becoming aware, you learn a great deal about your authentic self.
Slow down and practice awareness of your behaviors, habits, reactions, opinions, thoughts… When you get good at this, you can be so aware in the moment that you’ll start to practice “the pause” before you react or speak.
Reflection is the second impactful practice when it comes to life transformation. I highly recommend you grab a journal or notebook just for this. Write about your daily existence and how you reacted, what you thought, how you behaved; track your progress over time. I’m betting that with awareness, you’ll notice patterns that don’t serve you and you’ll begin to release those patterns.
Personally, I look back over my previous journals about once a year (around the new year), and I can see where I’ve made a lot of progress and where I still need to practice.
So, I hear you saying “But, Tracy, how can reflection and awareness possibly bring about the change I want to make?”
It’s a start. It’s putting the key in the ignition and starting the car before we shift into drive.
Change is rarely instant. You’re here in life for the long term, right?
A butterfly does not turn into a caterpillar in a day. In fact, the process is quite dramatic, traumatic and somewhat magical!
When you do this, you begin to change from the inside out and your goals become a powerful vision, rather than a checklist of "shoulds." And you'll want to follow this vision naturally.
What do you think? Are you willing to try new practices? If you truly want to change, in your heart of hearts, then I hope you said “hell yes!”
I support clients in this endeavor. Through transformational coaching I lead them to a place where they are open to meeting their higher selves and connect to their intuition. From this place of awareness and reflection, a new reality starts to form, and healing of ego patterns that harmed us in the past begins to happen.
The change or transformation you seek begins on the inside.
To begin your reflection and increase your awareness, in your new journal write about, or list, the ways in which you want your life to transform. Again, get really clear on the life you want to live - begin to create a vision that pulls you toward your desired life (more on this soon).
Keep your intention to change focused on you, because if you haven’t found this out the hard way already (and I think most of us have), you cannot change another person; we can only work on ourselves - which is the only way to bring about changes to our personal experience.
Here’s something you may not know, the universe ultimately works in our favor. It will support your transformation - as difficult, as challenging, as daunting and impossible as it may seem right now. The universe is rooting for you.
You can, in turn, support the universe’s efforts in making these transformations happen by starting the practices of awareness and reflection. It’s not easy and your ego will put up a tremendous fight, but it is possible.
Tracy
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Categories: inner transformation, practices, spirituality, transformation