Transformation: From Theory to Practice

"The difference between theory and practice is that in theory, there is no difference between theory and practice – but in practice there inevitably is."

- Michael Neill, SuperCoach

I've spent the last 5 years or so, studying how to transform my life, and the lives of the people I come into contact with.  I've studied Neuro-Linguistic Programming, Time-Line therapy, Neurological Re-patterning, and am currently diving into Ontological Coaching.  I've spent countless hours reading books, and attending workshops.   What I finally came to understand is that I can't create the life of my dreams by just reading and theorizing about how to do it.  I have to actually put into practice what I have learned.  It's not enough just to know how... you've got to do it!

I've spent a good portion of my life hiding behind books, classes, CD's, and Podcasts, and in a recent conversation with my coach, I finally was able to see that if I don't experiment with what I know, in the laboratory of my own mind, then how can I expect to know what my clients are going through.  It is only by putting into practice this wealth of transformational knowledge that change can actually occur.

I've begun to see this pattern everywhere in my life.  People, myself included, seem unwilling to actually experiment with their own lives.  To try on something new, even something as small as a new way of looking at the world.  We go with what we know, and yet we still want things to change.  This is the very definition of insanity.  It's like trying to knock down a brick wall by hitting your head against it for the one thousandth time and thinking it will have a different result than the previous 999 times.  Sure, it might work, but the odds aren't in your favor.

What if, instead of relying on our theories, that in large part we get from other people, we were to live our lives from a place of curiosity and possibility.  What if we looked at those situations and roadblocks in our lives and said, 'I wonder what would happen if I tried this', and then actually try it.  What if, instead of knowing so much about the world, we owned up to the fact, that we don't know as much as we thought we did.  And the second we open ourselves up to not knowing, that creates the space for something new and different. When the space opens up, than with marry that with action. This is what creates transformation.  Not transformation in theory, but transformation in practice!

I'm committing to the practice of personal transformation...  will you? Or will you sit on the side lines and watch yourself show up the same way, year after year?  

Perhaps you'll come to it quietly and then again it might just take you getting mad as hell and saying "I'm just not going to take it any more!"  Regardless of how you get there, when you're ready to change your life, here's a way for you to ease the transition from theory to practice:

Experiment:

1. Choose a challenge in your life that has been re-occurring for a while that you have been up until this point addressing in the same old way.  It could be the same old argument with your spouse, or the same old financial hiccup, or health concern.
2. Get clear about the outcome you would like to achieve
3. Do an ecology check by asking yourself, 'Is this outcome safe for me, safe for others, and safe for the planet?'
4. Foster some curiosity by remembering a time where you were ferociously curious(don't be afraid to think way back to when you were young if you need to).  A time where your had an incredible urge to explore and experiment.  A time where if you tried something and it didn't get the desired result, you simply tried something else.
5. Imagine bringing that ferocious curiosity with you into this present day challenge.
6. Now ask yourself, 'what might be a more useful way for me to see this situation?' and then try it on until you find a perception that you like.
7. Next, ask yourself, 'I wonder what else I might try to get the desired result? 
8. Finally, put whatever comes up into practice! Take action on it Today and I invite you to be surprised and delighted by what you discover!

Enjoy, and have fun experimenting!

Love and Light,

Tyler