Basically, in changing or in the process of making yourself better, there are two strong fundamental principles that have been taken into account. These points are used and implemented as a sort of mantra so that they can have one hundred percent focus on the task at hand, rather than doubting themselves whether or not this will work. What are these principles?
The first one was popularized by Anthony Robbins. It goes something like this, “If you always keep doing the same things, you will always get the same results.” Now, this principle has been accepted by almost everybody in the self-help community world wide. The reason is that this principle, in its simplicity, is very true. Take two people who want to get in shape and a better, healthier body. One of them just THINKS about exercising, while in his daily routine nothing much has changed. He keeps doing the same stuff without any regard to his goal of a healthier body. Now, the second person, after deciding that he will focus his life on a healthier lifestyle, he incorporates the basic principles of health and fitness into his life. He goes to the gym every two days, he does aerobics every other day, and he eats healthier. See the difference? Can you guess who, in three months time, will be in a better shape than the other? This is the basic of the first principle. When something needs to change, something inside you has to change as well to get to your goal.
The second principle is an old saying. “In changing something, you need to have faith and keep going, no matter how small the improvements may seem. It’s like chipping at a rock. At first, it will seem that nothing has changed. But after a long while, after continuous effort and discipline by keeping at chipping on the rock, the rock will shatter because of the tiny miniscule cracks combined.” Long analogy, I know. A shorter version would be one of an Indonesian saying. “Little by little and in the end you have moved a mountain.” Now, the second principle here focuses on the fact that you must have blind belief in doing something. You may not know the ins and outs of the work at hand, but you just keep doing it and have faith that in the end this will turn out the way you want it. Here is where this principle can go badly. What if someone, who read some method on the internet on how to lose weight by buying a device which jiggles the fat on his stomach. So, for months he keeps doing this, but he’s still fat. Why? Is it because he didn’t have discipline? Or because he didn’t have the motivation? No, it’s because the method and system that he chose was wrong. He should have gone and got a gym membership instead of buying a ridiculous and useless device. So, is this principle flawed then? Absolutely not. This principle is amazing that it helps people to just DO IT instead of wondering around and postponing it. With this principle, people can let go of any self doubt and believe fully that the method will work. To get anywhere, though, somebody has to have a tested and successful method to implement. You can find a million methods on how to lose weight on the internet, but to get anywhere, you have to do your research and find one that others have taken, used, and achieved success with. You’ve also got to have feedback by other people who are sharing the experience with you by doing the same things. In this way, mistakes can be corrected, predictions can be made, and motivation can be given.
Although I’ve made a long and pretty detailed analysis (if I do say so myself) on the two principles, I’ve had trouble implementing these principles into my life. Change is hard, I know, and even more having blind faith in a system. Sometimes I feel that I need to know everything about everything something has to offer before I can dive in. For example, programming. In my first year of Electrical Engineering, I couldn’t even make a simple PHP program due to the fact that I was always reading about PHP, instead of just plunging myself and doing it. Sure I got a ton of knowledge about PHP and its theories, but what good is it if I can’t even make a simple program? Now I’ve learned my mistake, and every time I spend too much time researching on the Internet, and contemplating on doing something, I just take a deep breath and do it. This has been very hard for me to do, as I have always been pretty lazy about change. But I’ve realized, that if I want to get better, then I need to change my habits.