The First Step to Lasting Personal Change

You know, It really amazes me how many infomercials, webinars, websites, links, etc. are out there promising you a "new and proven" technique, method, or secret that can make you thousands of dollars weekly or even daily through a home based business using nothing but a computer and an internet connection. What's more convincing is that these adverts include testimonials of regular people, presumably just like you and I, who have actually used the course or product to make the kind of money promised to them. Well, a lot of people actually fall for these internet business courses and buy them with the hope that a few extra hours a day can help make ends meet or even pay off the mortgage.

The truth is, almost always these products or programs fail to deliver the goods and the consumer ends up searching for something better. Making money in the internet is real. The way to make money through the internet is careful planning, finding a profitable niche, selecting a product or service to fill this niche, advertise, advertise, and more advertise. When I say advertise I mean targeted advertising and not advertising blindly. Of course you need to master using the right keywords and action words in your ads to be more visible to search engines and search phrases. Action words are words which compels your reader(s) to act upon them or catch their attention long enough to arouse their curiosity. But enough of this internet money-making venture. My purpose for writing this post is not to teach you how to make money on the internet but to make you ponder on, and later investigate and delve deeper  the factors which circumvent around this simple notion- we are never truly content. We yearn for more than what we actually need. Sounds familiar? You know it does.

There comes a time in our lives when we have to take everything in retrospect and try to undermine why we aren't happy and contented with our lives. We need to limit our associations with material things and focus our efforts and energies on relevant key issues like health, relationships, personal growth, and global outlook.
A lot of times, when you ask somebody what the central focus of most of their problems are you'll know that it usually revolves around the issue of money. Don't get me wrong, we need money to survive in society but we don't need too much of it. The media has hardwired financial independence into our subconscious as something that is attainable only if we make more money than we actually need. Of course a lot of people would disagree with me but let me ask you this- you have heard of business execs or even CEO's of companies actually dropping everything and leaving their job to live in the tropics somewhere living on simple living and eager means, right? They leave their cellphones, emails, laptops, and other "tie-me-downs" behind and start living a simple, stress-free life, being one with nature, being at peace with themselves, and donating their wealth to charity.

I guess the one question which begs answering is why. Why would someone making millions of dollars leave all that behind? Why the sudden and drastic change in retrospect? The answer is they have had enough. They have reached a truer sense of understanding of what their actual needs are and how to go about attaining them. The revelation is intense and so life-changing that their complete reversion to the exact opposite is so sudden and without hesitation. What do they know that eludes us? They have learned to LET GO. Letting go is the first step to lasting personal change. Your complete and utter surrender to the fact that something has to change or something will give is the paramount move by which you will plant your cornerstones on. Learn to let go and accept certain truths in your life. I usually advice people to make an honest list of what they need to change in their life. Here is an example:

       1. If I don't change my eating habits and exercise more often I will be unhealthy and die early.
       2. If I don't mend things between me and my parent/ brother/ sister/ wife the distance grows between
           us.
Now, how about rewording the first statement as, " If I don't do anything to start being healthy I will never grow old enough to see my grandchildren!" and the second statement as " If I don't come out in the open and  patch things up they will never know how much i really love and care for them.". Do you see now how we need to see things in a different light at times in order to compel us to act upon them sooner?

Letting go is not easy. It is, however, necessary in order to move on. IN order for us to change we have to admit to ourselves that we needed changing. We have to accept the notion that we need to let go of some things in order to attain something new. An old life for a new one, if you will. The next post we will cover is about uncovering and defining your fears.