I’ve often claimed that we can take control of our own well-being – that it’s a skill we can learn like any other. I stand by this, but like all worthwhile endeavours, it takes time, enthusiasm and a little commitment.

My clients are always looking to make genuine change in their lives. It’s inspiring stuff, but in their enthusiasm to make changes, these same people often:

1. overestimate how easy these changes are going to be, and
2. underestimate the power of making smaller, more manageable changes first.

Making small, easy changes and having a few little wins is critical to transforming any part of your life. If you try to make big changes too soon and fail, it’s easy to be discouraged. And there’s no bigger obstacle to controlling your well-being than thinking you can’t do it – you’ll just stop trying.

The best way to make big transformation is to start small. Identify some very small changes to your life that you can’t possibly screw up, no matter how simple or irrelevant. For example, walk to the bus or train a different way, drive to your regular appointments by a different route, eat dinner at the table instead of the couch (or vice-versa!), put the milk in before the cereal (or vice-versa!). What’s important is you decide on a change and make it happen. No change is too small, just make sure it’s easy and know that they are the building blocks of radical transformation.

We tend to overestimate our ability to control the outside world and underestimate our ability to control our internal attitudes and experience. More importantly, we underestimate the effect a change in our attitude can have on the people and circumstances around us. It’s a shame, because understanding this is where the power really lies.

If we change our habits and attitudes to the world, we will change the way we interact with the world. It might seem counter-intuitive, but this is an interaction, after all – the world (and the people in it) will respond differently to us when we change the way we engage with them. It won’t happen right away (there are a lot of good reasons to explain this elsewhere), but it will happen. What’s most important is we treat this transformation of our lives as a long-term project and expect that we’ll get it wrong from time to time along the way.

This why we start small and focus on successes and simply learn from our mistakes. So identify some positive changes you can make. Generate a little enthusiasm to work toward your own well-being and find some support.

There are 3 simple ways you get started right away:

1. Get some free support and information by joining my free Facebook community – Perform Under Pressure: More Than Just Coping.

2. Download this free Guide: The One Strategy Busy Professionals Use To Reduce Stress & Avoid Burnout Without Dropping the Ball

3. Book a free 30 minute stress breakthrough call to get some personalised strategies and see if the Beyond Mindfulness Method* might be a good fit for you.

*The Beyond Mindfulness Method is a step by step method to help you perform under pressure without burning out or losing control of your life. It’s a 12-week program – online and live – that combines the best of ancient techniques and modern research to stay in control – even in 2020!