How Many Times Have You Tried

How many times have you tried to change something about yourself?

Your life in general, your circumstances, your relationships, your spirituality, your closeness (or distance) to God… the list goes on.

Take a moment. Be honest with yourself. Make a checkmark or highlight the items you’ve tried more than once:

To lose weight
To gain weight
To find a partner or soulmate
To leave a partner or relationship
To be kinder within a relationship
To put yourself first
To find your perfect job
To start a business
To maintain fitness goals
To learn a new language or skill
To earn a promotion
To finish a degree or program
To travel
To save money
To be healthy
To drink enough water
(Add your own)

The Big Question
What do we need to do so that we don’t have to keep starting over? So that we do it once, and it is done?

We often look for external fixes: strict diets, working harder, studying longer, setting reminders on our phones, taking classes. These can help, but usually only for a short while.

Why? Because real change has to come from within.

Creatures of Habit
We are creatures of habit. Many of our beliefs and routines were formed long ago, often without us even remembering how or why. We do things simply because “that’s how it’s always been done.” These patterns become so ingrained that we rarely stop to question them.

Here’s a story that illustrates this beautifully:
A friend’s special dish, her grandmother’s recipe, was a delicious whole fish. Every time I visited her, I hoped she would serve it, and she never disappointed.

One day, I asked for the recipe. The very first step caught my attention: wash the fish and cut two inches above the tail.

Curious, I asked her why. She didn’t know, so she called her mother. Her mother’s answer was simply: “because that’s how it’s done.”

Still unsatisfied, she called her grandmother. After a pause, her grandmother burst out laughing.
“I always cut the tail,” she said, “because my dish is shorter than the fish!”

Becoming the Change
What needs to shift inside us to create lasting transformation?

Which hidden experiences, buried deep in memory, are still shaping our choices today?

What beliefs are keeping us from loving ourselves enough to allow goodness and abundance to flow freely, consistently, and without resistance?

The answer does not lie in external fixes, but in internal awakening. When we question old habits, rewrite beliefs that no longer serve us, and choose self-love and self-respect as our foundation, we stop repeating cycles. We become the change we’ve been seeking.