Intentionally Curious

73. Change is Inevitable; Growth is Optional

July 02, 2022 Jason Ramsden Episode 73
Intentionally Curious
73. Change is Inevitable; Growth is Optional
Show Notes Transcript

The curious thing about growth and change is that literally one thought or one action can change your life. For me, that thought was “I can impact people’s lives.” With kindness, with generosity and with an intention of being the best human I can be I can impact people’s lives.

And with that simple thought, I embarked on a journey to improve my mindset, improve my thinking, and to improve my skills as a coach. Growth is the key to success. So many times people will tell you to take action but it is deciding you want to change and then embracing the work to grow that is the key.

In this episode I share three things you can do to grow as a person.

Get after it my friends and we’ll see you next week!

For links to everything mentioned in this episode and more visit:

https://www.jasonramsden.com/episode73

Have you ever been in a really great conversation that you didn't want to end? You know, the kind, the one where the dialogue between everyone is equitable. The flow is good. And everyone is involved. Do you know what I'm talking about? Recently, this happened on two separate occasions. And in both instances, I came away feeling kind of energized and intrigued and inspired. The first conversation was over dinner with a couple that my wife and I have only really known a short amount of time. But we were out to dinner and as the meal progressed, we found ourselves kind of locked in conversation conversations about new jobs and raising kids and learning new things and travel and being adventurous. And when the meal ended and we check the time, like three hours had passed in a blink of an eye. When I left that conversation, you know, I was thinking, gosh, there's so many things that I learned during that time. The second conversation was on a recent live that I did on social media. And during that conversation, which really isn't a conversation, just me talking and viewers sharing their thoughts and the comments. I found myself sharing that I believe everyone is capable of change. That was that ended up being like the main focus of our conversation. The only difference between one person and another person. Is whether that person sees themselves as needing to change, or if they see themselves as wanting to change. And there's a big difference there, right? I believe, I really believe everyone needs to change. Everybody needs. A coach in their lives. But I think the people who want to change the people who, who realize yes, it's time for me to make achieve, they really want to do something about improving their lives. They will. And those conversations reminded me of something that John Maxwell said. He said, change is inevitable. Growth. Is optional. And I thought, wow, that how powerful is that change is inevitable, but growth is optional. I think we often forget. That's the one true constant in life is change. Right. That's so true. Like we forget that. We forget that the seasons change, we forget that we grow old. People come in and out of our lives, we move, we learn. And every day we wake up and the world around us is just a little bit different. And sometimes, sometimes it's a lot. Different. So the question I want you to consider is are you. Ready for a change. I want you to ask yourself, am I ready? To grow. The curious thing about growth and change. Is that literally one thought. Or one action can change your entire life. It really can, for me, that thought was I can impact people's lives. I can. Like I truly believe with kindness and with generosity and with an intention of being the best human I can be. I can impact people's lives. And what that simple thought. I embarked on a journey to get, to improve my mindset, to work on improving my thinking and to definitely improve my skills as a coach, but ultimately just to improve myself as a person. Right. How many of us kind of sit around and say, you know what? I'm really happy with where I am right now. That's great. You're happy with where you are, but could you be better? Could you be a better person? Could you be a better spouse or a partner? Could you be a better leader? Could you be a better communicator? Could you be a better anything? Pick anything? Yeah, probably a hundred percent. You could be better. Cause we never stopped growing. We never stop learning. The challenge is to embrace that. That's the challenge. And so today I'm still in this growth mode and I hope, I hope I never stop growing and I hope you never stopped growing as well. I firmly believe that growth is the key to success. So many times people will tell you why you got to take action and take action, but it's deciding you want to change and then embracing the work. To grow. That's the key. That's the key with moving forward in your life. Remember, change is inevitable and growth is optional. So. Three things you can do. To grow as a person. One choose to be successful. Two. C challenges, not problems and three embrace the journey. All right. So one, when you choose to be successful, you're telling yourself. And more importantly, you're telling your mind that you're capable of being a success and all that you do. And I know that sounds strange to say, well, if I just tell myself I'm accessible. I'll be successful. Yes. If you choose that your mind will take you down that path. And by success, I mean, taking an active participation in improving your perspective about your life. Choosing to walk towards growth. Seeing yourself as a success, envisioning yourself as someone that like. It can be successful in all that you do. You're making an active choice. You're choosing to be a successful person. You can define what success means for you. Whatever that may be like, whatever path that you're on. YouTube is what. Being a success means just to success. Choose to be successful too. There truly are no problems. Okay. Problems have answers. You can overcome a problem. Right. We think about it like, oh, it's an obstacle. It seems a little weighty. Uh, problem. I'm sure how to fix a problem, but when you see a problem as a challenge, Right. There's an answer to it. There's an answer to it. And then you get into the mindset that you can actually overcome the challenge, embracing the concept. Of challenges is something we all can work on. Think of it this way. Okay. Think of it this way. A challenge can be broken down into thesis, tiny, tiny pieces. Someone just kind of stuck with me. Someone recently said to me, That there. Father said to them. Inch by inch is a cinch. Yard by yard is hard. Okay. I'll say that again. Inch by inch is a cinch. Yard. Bye yard is hard. And that's why I'm choosing to see. All of this, see everything, see all the challenges in my life. Right. Want to get in shape, do it inch by inch. How about lose weight? Same thing. What about changing your beliefs about yourself? Yep, absolutely. A hundred percent that would apply as well. There is nothing you cannot do. When you only see challenges and not problems, challenges can be overcome. Problems, seem daunting. Problems seem daunting. Okay. Three. Embrace the journey. No one. Absolutely. No one is achieved success overnight. That is simply not how it is done. Despite what we see on social media, despite what we see in the media, despite what we see all around us. No success happens in an instant. It's not an overnight success. It's just not how it works. Embracing the journey means you have to keep working. You need to celebrate the small wins. Embracing the journey means that when you have a setback or a failure, You do not let it crush you. It's okay to get down right. It's okay. To feel bad. But don't let it keep you down. Like use that. Setback where that failure is fuel to keep yourself moving forward. And I get it. I know like that was like 1, 2, 3. It's easy as 1, 2, 3. I know. It's easy to say. And I get it. I get it. And no, as I always tell you, right. I'm on this journey with you. I am constantly working to better myself. I'm continuing to look. Inward. I'm continuing to be curious about my thoughts and intentional about the work I do in my life. And do I have setbacks? You bet. I do. Does my mind generate negative thoughts? Absolutely. Last week. I had a very tough conversation with my own personal coach and it left me the rest of the week. Kind of wondering that, how am I going to get out of this? But by the end of this week, literally by the end of the week, I had come to include conclusion that yeah. You know what. I need to continue the work that I'm doing on myself, because it is making a difference. It is making me a better human. I am looking forward to tackling the challenges that come before me. But guess what? I'm a human I'm allowed to get down on myself. And so are you, so cut yourself some slack. Whenever you fall into negative thought patterns. Cut yourself some slack. Okay. It can happen. The difference between you and I. The difference in my life now is that I've learned the tools that keep me from staying down too long. And I try to share them here with you so that you can take advantage of what I'm learning. It's as simple as that, right. I, if, if, if my goal, the one thought I had in my life is to. Make a difference in people's lives is to improve myself and to share my learning. Then here I am here I am for you. Um, I'm open and I'm transparent and I'm honest. And I think the easiest thing for me to say is that yeah. It's hard work. But the rewards are incredible. And listen, if you're a regular listener on this show, you know, my journey. I've been on a long journey since December of 2020, before that even. All right. My goal is always to keep improving myself, not only for me, but for you as well, and for the people in my lives. So that together, when we work on being the best versions of ourselves, We do it for so many people, it expands and expands and expands. Think about it. You think, oh, if I make. You know, if I improve myself, if I take on tackle, you know, tackle challenges in my life. Then yeah, I'm making a difference in my life. But if you improve your life, Everybody around you. Their life improves as well. Think about that. That's pretty crazy, right. It's not just one. There's this ripple that goes out. Think of it, like in a still pond. If you throw a rock in that pond, the ripples, just go and go and go. And they might, you know, go beyond your earth, your site in your view. How crazy is that the thing. Just remember change is inevitable. But the growth is optional. So, what are you going to choose today? Are you going to choose to grow as a person? Are you going to take the three things I shared with you today and put them into practice? Are you going to take the time to listen to another episode of this show or another episode of another show, or pick up a book about self-improvement and make a difference in your life. I'm challenging you right now. To think about what comes next for you. Where are you on your journey? And how can I help you? All right. My friends that's it for this week. Remember. Be willing, be curious and be intentional. And until next week. Keep doing the work. You've got this.