Are you committed to downshifting or de-stressing your life but can’t find the motivation you need to take the first step? Are there some external factors in your life, such as hefty mortgage repayments or an unsupportive partner that you feel are preventing you from realising your dream? Some conventional methods for moving ourselves forward in situations such as these often fall short on staying power and realism, so I’ve come up with an alternative approach.

Last month, in part one of this article, we looked at the first two stages of motivating ourselves the easy way. They are “Responsibility” and “Re-view”. If you missed part one, do email me for a copy. This month we look at stages 3 and 4.

3) Renewal

The most important part of the renewal stage is the discovery or our real needs through being more aware and sensitive to them. This is different to being aware of what others tell us we need to be and do. It’s about knowing at our very core what it is that’s important to us.

With my personal coaching clients I will do what is known as a values elicitation exercise at this point. Once we know our core values – what really makes us tick, not what we’d like other people to think makes us tick! – then we can distinguish between where we’re forcing ourselves to change and where we’re feeling inspired to change.

This is key – the difference between coercion and inspiration -, because, we can then be more honest with ourselves about what drives us and where our strengths and weaknesses lie. The next step then involves nurturing, co-ordinating and harnessing our personal resources for maximum effect.

In starting out on a lifestyle change in this way, we are moving from a disciplinary approach to a visionary approach. One of the things that I encourage my clients to do to support themselves at this stage is to find out what kind of material inspires them and then to include a little bit of this in their lives every single day. For example, this might be spending time in nature or reading inspirational material or painting or playing music or meditating. Do take some time to reflect on what inspiration material is for you and then carry this knowledge into the next stage.

4) Re-create

What you need to create will become evident once you have made the time to complete stages 1-3. The inspiration and truths you unveil will point towards some new possibilities for you to explore. Then you can put together, piece by piece, a new regimen – not imposed but something that will work naturally and authentically for you. You’ll know that you’ve reached this point when you feel enthusiastic and energised about what’s about to happen.

From this point, I would suggest that you build one new decision at a time into your daily and weekly regime. For example, suppose you’ve decided to buy your food from local suppliers rather than through a supermarket, your first new decision might be to pay a weekly visit to your nearest farmers’ market, buy what you can from your grocery list from there and then only buy the balance from your usual supermarket.

Conclusion

Conventional wisdom tells us that in order to achieve something great, such as downshifting, we need to apply some kind of force. These 4 easy stages offer us an easier, more realistic and enjoyable alternative, fuelled by our inspiration rather than by coercion.

Suggested Further Reading:

You Can Have What You Want. Michael Neill.

“There is no try. There is only do or do not.” Yoda in The Empire Strikes Back.

“Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase. Just take the first step.” Martin Luther King Jr.