In this post, we visit the crossroads of life and help you make a tough life decision about your career, relationships, or business.

KEY LESSONS:

Before we get too far down this road of life change, let’s first begin with a philosophical concept that is essential for personal growth. The idea is that “everything is the path.”

Even if you feel like the past 6 months (or 6 years) of your life have been “off course,” try to see those previous chapters as offering you valuable life lessons and experiences that you can now leverage to illuminate your forward path.

With that said, let’s begin with the process of change we all go through before ACTION becomes possible.

I call these the 4 A’s.

1.  ATTENTION

This is where our journey begins. Not with distraction, denial, repression, or avoidance, but instead purposeful focus and attention into the area of your life that you feel “it’s time” to change.

In the above video (apx. 2-minute mark) we discuss how this FIRST STEP isn’t always easy.

I mean, who wants to stand in front of a mirror and face themselves when it’s so much easier to distract yourself with another series on Netflix, have another glass of wine, or get lost in whatever clickbait news headline is dangled in front of you today.

The point being, this first process to get your life back on track must be one done with intention and purpose, because the world is an infinitely distracting place.

2. AWARENESS

With your mental energy and focus now directed towards this area of your life, including your thoughts and feelings, awareness naturally begins to bloom.

As we mention in this second part of the video,

“Your focus and attention are like the water being poured on the seed. Naturally as a result, insights begin to bloom.”

So your job at this stage of change is to simply let whatever arises within your stream of consciousness be seen and heard.

As we mentioned above, the best thing to do is to write them down, then go back and process them one at a time.

Just be ready that a myriad of things may come out of you, including wonderful ideas and inspiration, as well as doubts, fears, and worry.

All of it is wisdom coming through if you’re willing to stick with it.

3. ACCEPTANCE

As Carl Rogers points out:

“The curious paradox of change, is that when I accept myself as I am, then I change.”

Acceptance is probably the most overlooked and ignored aspect of the change process. So many of us try to just skip over it and rush right into action.

But to get there properly, we must accept ownership over our current reality, current results, and current experiences.

Above, we highlight two major aspects of acceptance.

1. It’s time.

Meaning that for you, you have decided that NOW is the time for change. Hitting your threshold, you accept that even a single day more of the same pattern or same results is unacceptable.

No more procrastinating or putting it off.

It’s time.

2. It’s YOU

You have the power to turn this thing around with decisive action.

You’re the one that can change this.

You have what it takes.

It’s you.

4. ACTION

The natural results of directing our focus and attention into a (possibly neglected) area of our life, sparks awareness (the kind that sparks “ah-ha” moments), invites acceptance, which inevitably transforms into powerful action.

This is how we navigate the crossroads of life. Replacing fogginess with clarity, and conflict with action.

P.S. If you want help working through this process, or putting together an action plan for your year, then check out our Illuminate™ and Elevate™ courses.

See you on the path,

-Patrick