⏳ Erebus Growing | 0026 - Changing through persuasion not force

Welcome to Erebus Growing, a weekly email where I share little snippets of life to help you change and grow into your highest life.

I’m at home visiting for a couple of days. And while I enjoy visiting, that’s what I enjoy it for now.

Going home is nice, but it always seeks to revert me back and I fight it whole-heartedly because it’s not who I am anymore.

When your life has changed, embrace it.

Enjoy your visits home and, if you’re like me, be grateful that you’ve grown from who you used to be.

👨🏻‍💻 Meditation

I was recently reminded through an email about the difference between force and persuasion.

They might both get to the same end, but one gets there infinitely easier and is longer lasting.

If you aren’t sure, the answer is persuasion.

It’s significantly easier to show someone the right path and have them hold to it.

I know that when I’m doing something because I want to do it, I tend to keep with it longer.

I do things more when I want to, not when someone else told me to.

I saw it in teenagers when I worked with them. Telling them to do something made it more likely that they wouldn’t do it. But if I convinced them that it was their idea…

Changing our life is similar.

If we change it because someone told us we should or need to, it’s going to be harder.

But if we change it because we see something we want, well, that’s a lot easier.

(Of course, all of this goes out the window if we have someone we see as a professional telling us to change in some way.)

It all comes back to vision.

What is it we want our lives to look like?

When we identify that, we next look at what needs to change to get there and then slowly make adjustments to align with that vision.

I’m an advocate for slow change. Why?

Because it’s more likely to stick.

When you try to change too much too quickly, you tend to exhaust yourself and give up.

Change is a muscle, just like so many other things.

The more you work your change muscle, the stronger it gets and the longer you can go.

That’s why, along with slow change, I also advocate and use small change.

Your life is like an ecosystem. It can only handle so much shock at once before you upset the balance.

But, when you attempt to change your life in a slow and small way, the problem becomes that change is so simple that staying as you are, with the comfort you know, is easier.

Why move into something that you don’t know when you can stay with something you do know?

That is the real question you have to ask yourself.

Are you ready to let go of the places you’re comfortable in right now?

📚 Inspiration and Resources
Every week we all consume content and I share my favorites here.

Listen.
I listened to a podcast this week from Dan Koe where I took a number of notes. He talked about the concept of working less to make more. I always knew about it conceptually but never really heard or understood it until this podcast. And now I have to go back and reread his email about this from a couple of weeks ago. Give it a listen here.

📓 Journaling Prompt
Journaling is one of the most important things to do when exploring our own lives. A new prompt for you to use this week is below.

Are you ready to let go of the places you’re comfortable in right now?

Until next time, I wish you enough and send you off with love and a sense of urgency in your life.