31Ways2GetItStarted™! January 2, 2013

Day 2: Be Realistic!

Let's face it, many of us find that reality is not our friend. Reality frequently can be a huge Debby Downer. And reality is especially uncooperative if your New Year's resolutions included you engaging in behavior which either completely goes against your personality, or would require you to bend the laws of time and space in your favor. So if, for example, you decided you were going to lose a lot of weight super quickly by waking up at 5am every morning and running 5 miles...even though you 1) hate to wake up early and 2) you hate to run even more...um, I think we all know how that's going to end. Hint: The only thing that'll be getting a workout will be the snooze button on your alarm clock, while you end up loathing yourself. In fact, you end up furiously frustrated, again, with yourself, and probably give up and sink further into bad habits and self-destructive behavior. NO ME GUSTA!

On the other hand, if you were to, for example, decide to get off the subway one stop early, and take the stairs whenever possible, and not order both appetizers and entrees, and just be patient with yourself and understand that life is a progression...well, well! You might, in a month say, start realizing that your tight pants are actually lose, and you have more energy and dear God could it be, that your resolutions are actually sticking?

Thus, kids, my admonition, my plea, is "be realistic," fer f**k's sake, and appreciate that change is difficult. Change is, in fact, exhausting but you can do it...if you resolve to be realistic about how much any one person can humanly do each day and don't consciously set yourself up for failure.  

Want some help taming reality to your will? Email me @carlotazee@gmail.com, and become a fan of my business Facebook page, "Carlotaworldwide Creativity Yenta," for a free consultation!

31Ways2GetItStarted™! Jan 1, 2013

1: Believe in it to build it!

First and foremost: If you’re trying to make changes in your life, any changes, you have to believe, passionately, obsessively, almost desperately, in those changes, before you can realistically be expected to do the hard work necessary to make them happen. And, dear hearts, I mean any changes, whether it's losing weight, switching professions, going back to school... you have to be able to envision and see those changes before you'll be willing to commit, day after boring, frustrating, exhausting, exhilarating, goddamn day to those changes. 

You have to believe in those changes, so you'll commit to those changes, so THEY CAN HAPPEN. End of story. You're going to have to dig down deep and believe that indeed you can do whatever it is you yearn to do. You'll have to see it, so you can bring it to life. Which is both terrifying and exhilarating since it opens a lot of doors: what could you imagine yourself doing differently? It’s a whole new world, right? Bingo. It's that simple and that difficult: if you think you can, you can. If you can't, you cannot and you will not.

 

I, for example, considered starting a business similar to this as far back as 1999. But, I always had a reason why I couldn't do it right now, why tomorrow or next year (translation: Never) would be better. Eventually, through kismet (translation: Law school debt, desperation, determination, cats to feed, and the power of tremendous whining), I just said, "F**k this noise, this is my life, and if not now...when?" I could see myself actually running a business and helping people. I think also, in the early days, some friend whom I helped said, "Wow, how much do I owe you?" Oh, yeah, right...#ka-ching!

So before you spend a lot of money, and start trying to change yourself, take a moment to think: What is it you really want? What is the one desire within you that keeps getting stronger and stronger, that keeps nagging you, that makes you feel guilty and depressed when you ignore it? What is the desire which will keep you going when things get tough...as they will. (Since, by the way, unlike a lot of people, I'm going to treat you like the adult you are so yes, changing your life is rewarding but it's NOT for wimps! It will get hard...and it will get wonderful!)

Now...thinking you could use some help to start the process of making these wonderful if scary changes? You know what to do, son! Email me @carlotazee@gmail.com....and happy 2013!