It’s hard to make big changes within ourselves, like really really hard.
It’s hard to break a habit, it’s hard to see the world differently, to level up, to look at our status in a new light and it’s hard to learn a new way of being in the world.
It’s hard to change your diet, end an addiction, choose love over fear, and believe in abundance in a world fuelled by scarcity.
Our thought patterns, beliefs, and world views run really deep in our psyche and were ingrained into us from long before we consciously remember anything. There is stuff there we don’t even realize is affecting our entire way of being if we don’t stop to look.
When I understood how extraordinarily difficult it was to bring enough change within myself to get different results, I almost gave up on helping others change.
But then something happened.
I took a marketing seminar. I thought I was learning marketing, but the second or third lesson in I was told that marketing was all about “making change happen”. And in that seminar through a lot of sweat, and some real life tears, I learned about the nuance of change.
Change happens slowly in minuscule ways.
You might see a painful story from your childhood differently.
You might respond to an old behaviour in a new way.
You might notice something that had been there all along.
You might find a new point of view from a conversation with someone.
In these small ways every time we dip our toe in the water we create ripples. We are dynamic creatures that are always changing.
One of the biggest ways we can bring change to how we see the world and our story is to dive into empathy.
Empathy is different than being an empath which took me by surprise. I thought that because I was an empath I was automatically empathetic.
Empathy is different than sympathy. Brené Brown explains sympathy as feeling sorry for you, but empathy is feeling with you.
Empathy is really seeing and understanding what it would be like to be another human. To see the world how they see it, to understand what it’s like to walk in their shoes and understand their world view.
Empathy is the precursor to compassion.
My friend Scott Perry from Creative on Purpose put together 10 video lessons by 10 rising thought leaders with tips to get a little more out of life, or make change happen within yourself.
He graciously asked me to take part.
My lesson is on empathy.
There are lessons on meditation, clarity, finding your voice, and more.
You can sign up here.