You are where you are today because of the choices you have made!
Your choices are determined by the habits you have created. Yes, I hear your opposition already! "You do not know what my father did to me." "You didn’t experience my upbringing." "They fired me. It was not my fault!" I hear you and while that all may be true, You are still in your exact circumstances because of choices.
Yes I agree life can be difficult. In fact, Jesus told us it would not be easy. I have experienced my fair share of life events that were beyond my control and not my doing. However, in every tragedy or difficult circumstance, we always have a choice. The choice is how we respond. Often I have seen that our response to difficult situations sets the course of our life more than the difficult circumstance itself.
Now let me clarify something. I am not trying to downplay the magnitude of your tough situation, tragedy, or life event. What happened to you was real and it was wrong. You did not deserve the pain you experienced. Just like I did not deserve for my father to commit suicide when I was 13 years old. Trust me when I say I know there are life events that happen to us that are beyond our control. However - in all things, you still have a choice.
With that said - your fault or not - you are where you are today, and my guess is, if we are 100% honest, there are some things you would like to change in your life. Maybe it is physical health, finances, maybe a relationship. Maybe you feel stuck in your current position or title and have lost the passion to dream about the future. Wherever you are today, spending all your mind-space on the past and blaming others is not going to get you where you want to be in the future.
Can I give you permission to dream again? Begin to write down those dreams you used to have. What do you want your life, marriage, ministry to look like in 5, 10, or 20 years? Dream like this: if money and time were no issue, what would you do?
Now that you dusted off some dreams, how can we see them become reality? First things first, you have to look at your current reality. If you want to get out of debt, you have to know how much you owe. Once you know where you want to go and you have honestly assessed where you currently are, NOW YOU CAN START TO MAKE SOME CHANGES!
How do you close the gap from where you are to where you want to be? Let me give you some simple first steps.
1. Get Help - The best athletes have coaches. The strongest thing you can do is reach out to
someone who is where you want to be. Admitting we need help is the first step toward a
successful future. If it’s health, find a coach. If it is finances, find a financial advisor, etc.
2. Get A Community - Look at your current circles and see if they are serving you to move
towards your goals or keeping you stuck. Find a community of like-minded people moving in the same direction with a desire for growth. Dive all in with them. Studies show us that we go further faster when we travel together. Likewise, isolation will lead to stagnation and ultimately death. The death of our dreams.
3. Get A System - Find or create a system that will keep you focused on your goal achieving activities. If you want to start running more put system in place to help you stay focused on our goal. For example, every night put your running shoes by your side of the bed and get a running partner. These little steps will hold you accountable to your goal. Set systems in place that will kick your brain into gear and move you closer to your goals.
It all starts with a decision. Decide today that you will be the person you have dreamed of becoming. Decide to become the person God created you to be. Decide today you are not simply a product of your past but you have purpose and this world needs you at your best.
John Buckner is a Replenish Health Coach, entrepreneur and trip leader. For more info find John on Social Media, or email him.