New Beginnings

“The secret to living the life of your dreams is to start living the life of your dreams today, in every little way you possibly can.” -Mike Dooley

Birthdays. They’re this joyous celebration for when everything has started. That one special day each year when we throw a party and reflect on the day our amazing journey began.

I had a very good time and celebrated many colourful birthdays in my life. Most of them were not big celebrations, in fact, I always preferred small gathering with not so much attention.

Anyhow, last week I celebrated my 35th birthday in Morocco with my loved ones. I haven’t returned to my home country for a while. I was lucky to have friends flying over every long vacation for a holiday or a Surf trip in Indonesia. So it wasn’t the friends that I missed the most – it’s the atmosphere, being around them all at the same time, and being back “home.”

The problem is that Home didn’t feel Home at first! When I landed, I was pretty disoriented. I couldn’t put the finger on what I was feeling. It just felt strange. Fortunately, that strange feeling faded quickly in the following days and started readjusting again.

Shortly after that, I started reflecting and thinking of what were my feelings about. In the beginning, I thought it was because of all the things that have changed: some roads got larger, the landscape around my house changed, new buildings poped-up and the place where I grew up looked smaller than I remembered! Really? But then the “Aha” came: I am the one who changed. It’s my perception that has changed. I was different.

The question is, how did I change or rather what changed me?

– The New beginnings changed me –

I Grew up a lot during the last few of years. I had new jobs, I changed countries a couple of times, I learned many new things and met a lot of new interesting people from all over the world. My routines were different and my lifestyle too.

With that came the realisation that I would have maybe stayed at my starting point if I didn’t step out of the path that I was supposed to take.
I craved excitement, and I was curious about the world; I took some risks and decided to have new beginnings.

New beginnings could be scary and challenging.
– Starting a new relationship could be terrifying: you might find yourself holding because of the negative experiences from the past and not letting yourself fall in love.
– Moving to a new country could be difficult because it’s unsafe and uncertain future.
– Signing a new (big) deal could be scary.
…

So here is my 4 tips to starting something sew:

1. Make an irreversible commitment to what you want to start or do.
Committing to something you can’t back out of has a profound effect on your behaviour.

2. Get resourceful
Gather all the resources you need to bring your dream into reality.

3. Stretch yourself
Think outside the box, don’t limit yourself.

4. Deliver on your original commitment

So remember: Commit to something you want to change, get resourceful, then stretch yourself to deliver on what you promise.

New Beginnings are exciting and challenging. Don’t let the fears hold you. Everything you have ever wanted is one step outside of your comfort zone.

“A ship in a harbor is safe, but that’s not what ships are built for.”