The thing about nothing is that it’s a lot of something. Artists often describe their art as formed long before they begin. They simply work their craft to reveal it. Like a sculptor chipping away until the sculpture appears or a writer manifesting a story from a blank page. Self-transformation works the same way. To find it, start with nothing.
If you’re looking for transformation, you’re likely unhappy with some things in your life. That’s fine. Most people want to make some changes in their lives. The problem is that if you focus on what you want to change, it’s hard to know what to do. It’s like the phrase, what you resist persists. So you need to clear your mind and your expectations and start fresh.
For more about getting what you want, read How to Manifest What You Want.
Here are three steps to self-transformation
- Start with nothing and remove all expectations
- Ask why you want the change, not how
- Take steps toward your desired change and build a habit
Start with nothing
Strip away your expectations to start from nothing. Then study the clean canvas and find what’s coming to the surface. You’ll probably notice pretty quickly that there’s something, and a lot of something, there. If you’re wondering about something versus nothing, you’re not alone. Philosophers have been contemplating this and the entire concept of nothingness since the fifth century BCE. In terms of self-transformation, nothing is important because it opens the door for new thinking. Your thoughts have a better chance of coming from a centered place because you (hopefully) aren’t trying to please anyone else. If you start with nothing, you can reach places not yet imagined.
Ask why
Now that you have an idea of what you want, take the advice of Simon Sintek and ask why. For example, maybe you want to work out every day. The transformative question is why not how. First, ask why you want to work out every day. Strip away the expectations and find what it means to you. Maybe you want strength, a fit partner, prestige, or power. All transformation starts with the self. While you may want those things, if you don’t look inward, you won’t be happy when you get them anyway. It’s one of the reasons people talk about mindset as one of the most important parts of reaching any goal. Now that you have your why, do you still want it? If the answer is yes, start working toward it.
Take steps toward change and build a habit
Change starts with a series of actions. You might want to work out two times a week, then three, then four, etc. Soon enough you’re there, but you’re there because you want to be not because of someone else. Take it one step at a time. Once it becomes a habit, it’s easier to sustain.
If you’re interested in self-transformation, then you’ve already started the process. The desire to transform is where it begins. Transformation can bring you closer to yourself and that’s where real change happens. The kind of change that lasts.
