Change and Personal Transformation

You only have to browse through the shelves of any bookstore (even Amazon) these days to see that people today are very interested in personal transformation. You have all sorts of books for improving or even changing people and their lives for the better.

It’s no secret that people are longing to live a life of power, purpose and passion!

Many of these books promise to help you be become emotionally happy. Books that promise a happier you in so many steps and books that help you to explore your hidden capabilities.

But is there really what personal transformation is about?

Personal transformation refers to the overall change in a person’s attitude, outlook, self-image, capacities, directions and actualization. It is a metamorphosis that can begin dramatically or through a person’s gradual realization that he or she can indeed grow toward a different path.

How the Process Begins

Sometimes the change begins with a dilemma or a crisis or a loss that forces people to take stock of themselves and the world they live in. This puts them in a position where they need to redefine themselves and their environment after seeing everything with new eyes. As they cope with challenges that confront them, they are forced to seek inner resources. Through this they discover new aptitudes, uncover new abilities and develop new plans for living. A new dynamic is established – one that affirms and cements the transformation – when people meet new goals and conquer problems successfully. Sometimes people have to go through pain and grief to find out what is personal transformation.

Some people embark on their road to change with less drama, gradually gaining an awareness of the desire to understand and improve themselves and their surroundings. Sometimes this comes from a positive environment and at other times, school and other learning sources provide the stimulus to set the process in motion.

Ingredients for Positive Transformation

Once the stimulus has been received, certain ingredients must come into play for transformation to be constructive and positive. Change can happen to many people but these ingredients impact the depth and quality of change which will determine the essence of what is personal transformation.

·  Critical reflection is vital to make change positive and productive. This involves trying to make sense of what has happened and it means looking for answers about the personal issues that have arisen. Critical reflection is a sincere search for what has led to the current state; an examination of cause and effect relationships. It means moving on from seeking who to blame.

·  Discovering and exploring options for the future is part of the process. This is when the person becomes aware of the possibility for changing their reality through abilities and powers that may have been untried in the past. It means going through task-oriented problem solving until issues are resolved. For example, the person who wants to become more financially competent may begin with tasks like balancing a checkbook or understanding a financial statement.

·  A shift in the fundamental beliefs through which the individual understands and draw inferences about the community and the world he or she lives in. In everyday terms, this boils down to a realization that certain things are permissible and even good. For example, a career woman may realize for the first time that it is okay to refuse to perform tasks that are supposed to be the responsibility of others. This strikes at the belief that a nice person and a good co-worker should please people – a belief that the person may have espoused.

·  A resolution towards making a new set of plans for the next chapter in life. After conflict and new learning have changed self-image and worldview, transformation becomes imminent with the forming of plans to build a different path for living.

·  People who go through crises and emerge from them often want become different from what they used to be. This is when the term “reinventing oneself” is often heard and it bodes well for personal transformation because the litmus test of change is when behavior is altered.

Personal transformation takes place through a process that is radical, internal and rational. Most of all, it is one that encompasses the way a person thinks and feels; how he sees the world and himself; what he does henceforth and his behavior. It is often a difficult change to make but it is very much worth the effort it takes in order to live a life of power, purpose and passion!

Gregg Swanson is a peak performance consultant and human potential coach and has authored several books and numerous articles on peak performance. Gregg specializes in developing mental strength in individuals that desire to reach their full potential. He has developed a unique online training program “Develop the Mental Strength of a Warrior.” You can also pick up your free eBook,” Why Change is So Hard” by going HERE.