10 tips to manifest change in our lives

February 24, 9:26 PMFitness ExaminerStefan Pinto

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Written on the notice board of my gym was this simple, but provocative adage, “if you do what you’ve always done, you will get what you’ve always gotten.” By nature change requires action. Without action, nothing grows, nothing progresses, nothing moves. Nothing changes.

Part of my training as an actor has taught me to “forget myself.” Forget “Stefan Pinto” the “son,” the “friend,” the “brother,” the “boyfriend.” Forget the person I am accustomed seeing in the mirror and become this new person; a person so diligently created by someone other than myself. Someone outside of myself.

Human beings tend to become personas of ourselves that serve to carry us through our daily lives. We might be “the boss,” “the dad,” “the teacher” or “the father.” But are these personas our own creation or are they the accidental manifestations of circumstances -- not beyond our control, but instead beyond our ABILITY to control?

For change to take place, we must go through a process. As the author wrote in “The Invitation,” “there is no way out but through. You cannot go from START to FINISH.” Beware that this “immediate gratification” is like a cancer that can permeate every aspect of our life. You must first run/walk/crawl the course. And, you must prepare yourself for pain -- if that scares you, fear is part of being alive. 

Accept that fear will never leave us. Every, single time you attempt to follow your dreams, your passions, your deepest desires, the fear will tap you on the shoulder, sometimes slap you on the face, with all of the reasons (you presume are sound) for not taking the leap. Don’t give in to your unfounded fears, because tomorrow, the desire will still be there -- winking. Here’s an uplifting tip, the best way to handle the pain --the fear-- is to run/walk/crawl with all of your might. Occupy your mind with reaching your goal instead of running from it because in 20 years, you will forget why you said “no” and regret that you didn’t say “yes.”

Here are 10 tips that has helped me to manifest change :

1. Wake up earlier every morning and write. If you don’t know where or how to start, read The Artist’s Way. Do the exercises. If you already find yourself saying, “I don’t have time,” then you are not ready.
2. Just start. You want to lose weight, start a diet. If you fail, start again (fall down seven times, get up eight). If you want to write a book or a blog, start. Just do it.
3. Exercise. You must exercise. This can be any physical activity that will get your blood flowing and your heart pumping. This burns fat, by the way. If you already find yourself saying, “I don’t have time,” read #1
4. Write to rationalize your thoughts. If you need to end a relationship, write down the reasons why. Ask, “are you satisfied with the way things are going?” It will start the process.
5. Read. Biographies about people you admire. Fictional accounts of events and scenarios you would like to be in. Let your imagination soar. Then do #1.
6. Smile and say “hello” to a stranger. I know this sounds cliche, but like that Starbucks cup professes, one of two things can happen, “they can ignore you or you can end up marrying them.”
7. Have goals. It gives you direction. It guides you. Without them, you are like a ship, sailing on a sea to nowhere, inevitably derelict on an unsung shore.
8. Write down what you want from life. Seriously. If you don’t know, then who in the world is going to know?
9. Reward yourself. If you did a good job, made progress, effected change, then go ahead and pat yourself on the back, tell yourself you did a good job. Buy something.
10. “Never, never, never give up.” -- Winston Churchill

Upon facing a difficult decision, my dad gave me this simple piece of advice, "be sure that when you shave in the morning, you can look at that person in the mirror." Make a reflection in the mirror that will smile at you every morning.