We all experience turns in life–some good, some bad. When the bad ones come along, it’s up to us to do something about it. To choose to stay stuck, or to turn the ship around. It’s up to us to choose.
You may be feeling you’re too old to make significant changes in your life. But it doesn’t matter what age you are, you can always turn your life around. Even people in the final months and years of their lives and started in new directions. Who knows how far any of us will get down the path, anyway?
Here are 11 powerful thoughts to help you change direction at any age.
1. The present is what matters.
When you’re busy on concentrating on what has been, or what will be, you rob yourself of the moment. Be here with the present, because right here, right now is where the change you want begins.
2. Everything changes.
Life rarely goes as planned, and most of us end up in a career that’s nothing like we expected. If you can accept that change will be happening at every step, you can turn anything around. You don’t have to linger in your failures or wallow in the things that went wrong.
3. We all get derailed.
We all put on such a good front for each other, but if you ask people about their failures and truly listen to what they’ve been through, you’ll realize that everyone has struggles, wrong turns that left them on uncharted roads, and detours that they had no clue how to navigate. If you can accept your derailment as a new path instead of an obstacle, you’ll have an easier time getting through it.
4. Start in small increments.
If you’re turning around something big, start small. Give yourself baby steps and small wins, until you start to build momentum.
5. Focus on the journey, not the destination.
If all you can think about is where you’re headed, you’ll lose touch with where you are. Every step of the way has its own wisdom and lessons and beauty, so don’t miss out by getting ahead of yourself.
6. Don’t make excuses.
It’s natural to try to explain away why you may have messed up or failed. Excuses might help you save your pride (that is, assuming the people around you accept them), but they will do absolutely nothing to advance you toward your goals. Far better to simply own it and move on in a spirit of self-acceptance.
7. Risks are worth taking.
Especially if you’ve been burned before you might be understandably wary of risk-taking behavior, but in most situations the best thing you can do is take another chance–or even a different version of the same chance again. You cannot protect yourself from failure without also protecting yourself from your happiness.
8. Discomfort is OK.
There’s a strange but widespread idea that success comes without difficulty, but with rare exceptions that’s far from truth. When you learn to be okay with discomfort is the moment you turn that feeling into an action of personal growth.
9. Safety is an illusion.
We all seek to be safe, but that safety is always an illusion. The moment you accept this is the moment you can be free to try all the things you were scared to try. The false seduction of safety is always more dangerous than the alternative.
10. Surround yourself with right kind of people.
You can surround yourself with the wrong people and keep doing the wrong things, or surround yourself with the right people and start doing the right things. You’re only as good as the people you surround yourself with, so be brave enough to let go of those who weigh you down and stick with the ones who reflect who you want to be and how you want to feel.
11. Uncertainty is the only certainty.
You can’t possibly know exactly how things will turn out, so if you give in to your desire to see the path ahead, you’ll avoid life-changing opportunities for the safer, more predictable options. It is how we embrace uncertainty in our lives that leads to great transformation of our souls.
Wherever you find yourself, if it’s not where you want to be, start working now for a change of direction. It’s never too late.
N A T I O N A L B E S T S E L L E R
THE LEADERSHIP GAP
What Gets Between You and Your Greatness
After decades of coaching powerful executives around the world, Lolly Daskal has observed that leaders rise to their positions relying on a specific set of values and traits. But in time, every executive reaches a point when their performance suffers and failure persists. Very few understand why or how to prevent it.
Additional Reading you might enjoy:
- 12 Successful Leadership Principles That Never Grow Old
- A Leadership Manifesto: A Guide To Greatness
- How to Succeed as A New Leader
- 12 of The Most Common Lies Leaders Tell Themselves
- 4 Proven Reasons Why Intuitive Leaders Make Great Leaders
- The One Quality Every Leader Needs To Succeed
- The Deception Trap of Leadership
Photo Credit: Getty Images
Of Lolly’s many awards and accolades, Lolly was designated a Top-50 Leadership and Management Expert by Inc. magazine. Huffington Post honored Lolly with the title of The Most Inspiring Woman in the World. Her writing has appeared in HBR, Inc.com, Fast Company (Ask The Expert), Huffington Post, and Psychology Today, and others. Her newest book, The Leadership Gap: What Gets Between You and Your Greatness has become a national bestseller.