How much pain does it take before you’re ready to change? When a particular course of action isn’t working, it’s always amazing to me how long we as humans can tolerate it. The pain of change is often felt to be significantly higher than the pain of the current course. And at least the current pain is a known pain, it’s secure. Change is risky. Who knows if its going to work out?

To make positive change you need to be able to imagine what the new and better world looks like. If you feel that a change is warranted, as soon as you feel that feeling immediately take time to act on it.

1. Describe the outcome that you don’t want in as detailed a manner as possible. You need to remember how painful the outcome can be so you can remind yourself about it later when things don’t seem as bad.

2. Imagine an alternative and write it down. What would it look like to make better choices? What would it look like to make the best choices? Can you imagine an alternative that is compelling enough to give you energy to shift?

3. Make a simple plan and harness a friend. Simple plans can be 3 steps long, and step one can always be to get help from someone who can help you make a better plan. Pop it into an email and send it to a trusted friend and ask them to follow-up with you.

4. Make a 10 minute step 1 and do it immediately. The biggest barrier to enacting change is getting started. Getting started is very challenging when step 1 is “Climb to top of mountain”. Instead imagine the smallest step that you can take right now, and then take it.

5. Put your pain, your change, and your plan up on the back of your bedroom door so you don’t forget and read it every morning. Anytime you’re stuck or you feel motivated, make sure that you take at least a 10 minute step toward your new outcome.

As with most tired cliche’s this one has much truth to it: The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.