The Transformation of You
A six-month plan for your own metamorphosis
The Transformation of You is all about you: in essence, a six-month plan for your own metamorphosis.
It’s about living intentionally, focused on what you are choosing for yourself, for the world. Transformation is far more about being than doing, that’s true. Yet your intentions inform your actions, and your actions create your life.
1- AWAKENING
As we begin to awaken – and this happens repeatedly throughout a lifetime, we first need to greet within, to figure out who we are at this juncture. The custom here in South Africa is always to greet before beginning a conversation, a lovely practice. And yet do we greet ourselves each day?
We human beings forget about this first step all too often, having been conditioned to look to the external for so much. Beginning our day by greeting ourselves allows us to briefly come home to ourselves and then, as the day goes on, those around us. A few minutes in meditation, with our feet on the grass, or even looking in the mirror at our own image, sets up our sense of wholeness, worthiness and self-compassion for the day to come. It is a reminder that this is why we are undergoing these shifts and changes. Of who we are and why we are here in the world.
2- ALLOWING
When we begin to look with kinder, more open eyes at our journey to this point, it’s quite inevitable that Stuff Will Come Up. It’s just how it works. We all have old tapes playing negativity nonstop in our minds – beliefs, judgements, rules. Often, they are buried so deeply in our psyches that we don’t even realise that they don’t belong to us. And mostly, they no longer apply. Present-day you, when you think about it, will likely no longer have any connection to any of it. Yet there it all is, living rent-free in your head! Identifying what no longer serves you is a huge step in creating transformation.
3- SHEDDING
Once you know what needs to be released – it’s time to let it go. If you want your life to change, you’ll need to create space for the new to come. Makes sense, especially if you think of it as literal clutter – or even hoarding! You’ve taken the time to see what is, now it’s time to release what no longer serves you or fits in the life you want to live. Once you know what you no longer need or want in your life, the spiritual decluttering (so to speak) can begin. This applies to habits, beliefs and behaviours – all the things that have been holding you back. To make space for your future to arrive, it’s inevitable that what no longer serves you will need to be shed.
4- BECOMING
Ah. Now there is space – to mix my metaphors, you’ve got a big blank canvas in front of you and now it’s time to really spend some time on your vision. This can be anything from prayer, to literal vision boards, to reading inspiring stories of those who have walked similar paths. Creating stillness and being comfortable in pausing to envision and dream, is such a rich space for bringing yourself to life in a different way. To make space for intentional dreaming is a gift to yourself, and to ask for what you truly want is your right as a human being. We forget this, don’t we, as we run around “doing”? Taking time to just “be” gives you the opportunity to discern what you’d like to become.
5- INTEGRATING
Just like playing a new sport, change takes practice. You have at least conceptual plans of where you’d like to end up next, a vague map drawn up. Practices are, in essence, what will get you there. Your structure. Your support system.
They are also a wonderful form of self-compassion. Anything from moving your body daily, to eating well, to having a consistent ancestral or spiritual ritual will help you stay on the path, with ease, peace and joy. It’s about giving yourself what you need to succeed. To thrive amidst whatever life brings. This too, takes intentionality. New neural pathways are literally created in this phase – it takes twenty-one days, it’s said, to create a new habit or pattern. And in ninety days, it integrates fully. This is fertile ground for change, always.
6. EMERGING
We can get stuck in seeking, can’t we? And certainly in perfectionism! It’s easy to stay in that planning phase, or “forget” to practice new patterns. So perhaps the most important part of any metamorphosis is to let go of trying, and just fly. Live your life. That’s when the magic truly happens: in the day to day of it all. And scary as it may sound, the very best learning comes from failure, always. Think of a baby learning to walk. It’s inevitable (and even charming) that they will fall on their behinds repeatedly until that day when suddenly, it clicks in and they toddle all day long without a second thought. Life is like that. So is transformation. Truly, this being human is all learned through on the job training. So if in doubt, leap and trust that the net will appear. It always does, even if there’s a bit of freefall first.