Recently I have been knocked off my feet by a string of massive blows and have been forced to reassess my life.

Sitting back and getting myself into a comfortable position, I began to travel back in time to my very first young adult life lesson. I traveled progressively through the my portal of time becoming more and more uncomfortable. As I reached my mid twenties I became fidgety.Whilst heading towards 30 discomfort had embroiled and I was feeling rather overwhelmed by the significance of my life lessons, as I spun myself back to my current self it hit me. (ahha) I had been ineffectively applying the lessons I have endured to learn over my life. I have been frivolously scraping by with a carefree mindset, oblivious to the wealth of knowledge I possess.

I have been going backwards for years, so disillusioned by my reality.

Yet I have this wealth of knowledge untapped and locked away for what, why had I not been using this to improve my life. I had become stagnant, aloof to the potential that lay within me, until now. I have consciously made the decision to change my life, a complete 180, a total makeover.

I recently attended a seminar where the keynote speaker touched on the differences between ‘Transactional change and Transformational change’

Transactional change relates to the achievement of desired goals and improved performance. It largely involves developing clearly self-set goals, which are then pursued to success. These tend to be the more simple or predictable outcomes. The level of investment required by you is minimal and you will experience very little if any gratification for this kind of change. Really it is just more of the same with very little improvement.

Transformational changing transcends yet it includes transactional change. They have similar techniques, but transformational change relates more to personal growth. The term “personal growth” is another term that is well worn and open to interpretation. What I mean by personal growth is an individual’s mental development. Generally speaking, this means an increasing shift from ego-centrism to an ethno-centric then world-centric and integral world view. With it comes a growing capacity to explore and understand ourselves together with more and more perspectives and, as a result, an ability to deal with greater complexity. In other words, as we move through stages of development, we develop a means to see and deal with more shades of grey. We become less black and white and the result is we can make better decisions in life.

Ultimately transformational change means dramatic life changing actions, where the investment in ones self is far greater, leading to far greater mental strength and self control. Once you transform and grow into the world you choose, it will be open to endless possibilities, success and happiness.

Think of the Koi fish, you can go down to your local pet shop and buy a baby 1 inch koi. You take your new friend home and drop him into a tank about 1sq foot in size. No matter how much you feed him, he will likely only grow to about 2 inches. What would happen if you changed his environment and dropped him into a 30sq foot pond. Without any additional food he will very quickly adapt to his new environment and grow to about a foot long.

When you strive for change and success where will you live? In the tank or the pond?

I know where I am moving to, transformational change and a far brighter future.