CAN people change?

Some do.

Most don’t.

Why?

We commonly say that change is the only thing that’s constant in this world. We must be capable of change in order to adapt to our ever-changing world. Everyone is capable of changing themselves for the better. Yet why is it that very few people are doing it?

This is because as humans, we tend to want to stay in equilibrium, also known as the status quo. We want to stay where we are used to. We want to stay in places where we have been comfortable and where we don’t have to exert much effort. These are what staying the same gets for us. Even if our current situation is not ideal, we are used to it and we have made ourselves believe that we can handle such a high amount of stress constantly.

On the other hand, change is difficult. Change requires a lot of effort and time. It also moves us from a place that we are used to, to a place with a lot of unknowns. However, most of the time this unknown place is a better place than what we are used to. It requires effort, but in the end, it pays off as it leaves us in a place better than where we were.

Because of this difficulty mentioned, most people tend to stay away from making any changes in their lives. Sometimes, even if they do want to make a change in their lives, they only choose to do what is convenient for them. When things get hard, such as when they have to do what is required and not just what is convenient, they stop in their tracks.

Most people don’t feel the pain of their bad habits, whether it’s procrastination, binge eating, or negative self-talk or anything else. When you ask people in this situation what they will do to fix their problem, most of them will just accept their fate and just shrug it off. While other people tend to avoid the question altogether.

Indeed, it is easier to brush off our problems and dismiss them as something that is not important. However, these bad habits have been costing us and have been affecting us even without us even knowing.

In reality, these bad habits have been affecting us in many aspects of our lives, such as our thoughts, emotions, mood, our personality, relationships, work, and even our physical and mental health as well. These bad habits stemming from avoiding change and losing faith in ourselves on whether we can change for the better has a lot of negative impact on our lives.

We may avoid thinking about it, but as time goes by, the problem only gets worse. This week, month, and even years pass by and we still stay stuck in the same place because we are afraid to make a change in our lives. In addition, as time goes by, our faith in ourselves and our self-confidence also goes down until we no longer believe that we are capable of doing anything good in our lives.

Many of us even become used to avoid these problems without even thinking about it. We acknowledge our problems and say we will, “Do something about it later”, but we never actually do anything about it. We know that we are not happy with our current selves, yet we are not serious enough to do anything about it. This results in never attaining total happiness and contentment within ourselves.

Therefore, if we want to achieve anything in our lives, or if we want to achieve something nobody else ever has, then we need to put in the effort that nobody else has ever done. We need to be determined to put in the time and effort to make a change in ourselves. Once we make a change in ourselves, then that’s the only time that we are able to make a change in the world around us as well. By changing ourselves for the better, we are also becoming capable of changing the world for the better.

Then, to start changing ourselves for the better, we must also want it for ourselves. Just like what we have mentioned before, it’s easy to say that we will change ourselves. The real challenge is to actually start doing it. The first step always requires the most determination, motivation, and the most willpower from ourselves.

We must be willing to take the first step, step out of our comfort zone, take in all the pain, and put in all the effort that we can. It’s easy to fall for excuses, but those who rise above all the challenges are the ones who can make the right kind of changes in their lives. So if you want to start making changes in your life, now is the time for you to take the first step. So what are you waiting for? Take the first step now and crush all of the challenges ahead of you.

Louise x