What should I do to change myself completely?

Do you know the reason why new year resolutions for changing oneself completely don’t work for most?

Before finding out the reason, let us make a choice.

Here are the two choices. Either you can take Rs. 20 lacs in one go or 1 paisa (Rs. 0.01) that will be doubled up every day for 31 days.

Which one will you choose?

Of course, most will take Rs. 20 lacs. Why will anyone choose Rs. 0.01 against Rs. 20 lacs?

But wait, we missed something. Let us calculate the result this 1 paisa will have in 31 days.

#Day 1: Rs. 20 lacs vs Rs. 0.01

#Day 2: Rs. 20 lacs vs Rs. 0.02 (0.01*2)

#Day 3: Rs. 20 lacs vs Rs. 0.04 (0.02*2)

#Day 5: Rs. 20 lacs vs Rs. 0.16

#Day 20: Rs. 20 lacs vs Rs. 5243

Even after 20 days, choosing the second option of taking 1 paisa seems to be worthless.

#Day 29: Rs 20 lacs vs Rs. 27 lacs

Now here comes the climax.

#Day 31: Rs 20 lacs vs Rs. 1.7 crores.

Which is 8.5 times more than the first option! Isn’t it surprising? 1 paisa can convert to 1.7 crore in 31 days.

This is called the compounding effect. Which shows that extremely small changes starting even from scratch can lead to life-altering astonishing results. We tend to ignore these small steps for instant gratification. But the magic lies in these small steps. We make a resolution, follow it for some days then when we don’t see much result, we leave it. It seems to be a complete waste of time. But we are unable to see the bigger picture.

If you want to change yourself completely then rather than taking a major step like quitting a habit completely, studying for 10 hours for the first time, running a marathon without trying 500 meters race, lifting 70 Kgs on the first day of gym, we need to take a very small step. Yes, your patience will be tested here. You may feel that there are no improvements happening. But the magic begins when we wait patiently and keep persisting.

The first step is to start small and have patience.

Second is persistence in the right direction.

Our big goals are most of the time unrealistic that is the reason why we are unable to change ourselves completely. Due to this, our new year resolutions do not work, because we expect too much from ourselves and that too in a very short time. We run for quick gratification while the secret lies in baby steps.

Here is how to start:

• Make your bed after waking up.
• Read 20 pages of a book daily.
• Include at least one healthy item in your diet.
• Don’t complain or gossip for one day.
• Do exercise for 20 minutes.
• Bring a smile on the face of one person.
• Compliment yourself while looking at the mirror.
• Wake up at 8 am then 7:30 am then slowly reduce it to 6 am.
• Take a day off from social media.
• Meditate for 15 minutes.
• Drink two extra glasses of water.
• Study smart, not hard. Take 10 minutes break every 1 hour.
• Try to speak less and listen to others more with complete attention.
• Read/listen to one short productive article daily.
• Save small amount of money daily.
• Have patience and trust the process.
• Involve a buddy with you in this journey, it will be long lasting and easier.

With time, you can increase the duration of these things. With long term commitment of improving mini things, a transformational change in not only your looks but overall personality, thoughts, and behavior.

If you want to improve writing, then write short articles daily. If you want to reduce weight, then do a little exercise and a small change in your diet. If you want to pass an exam, study for fewer hours in beginning but with full concentration, use tricks to study smartly, use Pomodoro technique. If you want to build muscle, take up 5 Kgs in the beginning, work consistently and increase the weight. If you want to run a marathon, first run 200 meters nicely.

If you want to change yourself completely, change your daily small habits and magic will follow.