Small Changes in Perspective Add Up Big

When we made the sudden decision to move to Santa Cruz, it was a direct hit on many of my settled beliefs.

My first reaction was to automatically say ‘no.’ The very next one was ‘what about the money?’ And the third one was ‘what about all my friends?’

Well, now that we have made the move and settled in, I can confidently say, “you had no clue about how set in your ways you really were.”

I, like many people, think I’m open-minded and willing to consider new ways of thinking and doing things. However, when it relates to me directly, all bets are off. I’ve been happy enough, I’ve been healthy enough, I’ve made enough money, etc.

The problem is when you’re surrounded by those ‘enough’ beliefs, you’re missing out on all the amazing things that can happen.

A simple example. Yesterday we walked to the beach from our house twice!

The concept of walking to the beach from my house would never have occurred to me as a possibility. It was tied to my beliefs about how expensive it is to live near the beach, how much effort it would take to actually move someplace close to one, and then the whole leaving my friends thing.

If you notice, it’s pretty similar to the automatic reactions I had when Peter initially suggested we consider moving to Santa Cruz.

This is all related to the emotions evoked by just the concept of change…it is going to be hard; it’s going to involve something scary; only bad things will result from the change, and the list goes on and on.

I invite you to think about a change you’ve been considering.

Make a list of all the reasons you don’t want to make the change. After you make the list, go back and look at how many of those negative reasons are ones you’ve made assumptions about and add those assumptions to the list next to the reason.

Now, go back to the change you’re considering and make a list of all the wonderful outcomes that could possibly result from making the change. Compare the two lists.

Let this information soak for a couple of days.

Later come back to your lists and review them to see if you would make any updates to them.

This is a simple way to consider a change without making any commitments. It will also highlight any beliefs you have around making this change and enable you to focus on those beliefs that might get in your way of choosing something different for yourself.

Walking to the beach is a powerful example for me today of how I had been limiting myself. It also shows me how much more I can do when I get out of my way.