It's April 2020. The world has gone strange and a lot of people I talk to are stuck. Stuck in their own heads, trying to work out what to do next and how to move on from here. Everyone keeps talking about the new normal, and nobody seems sure what it is.
So I've got three letters for you. Not the alphabet. We all learned that at school. This is a different ABC, and it's the one I come back to whenever something needs to change.
A is for acceptance
Until you accept where you are right now, you're not going anywhere. It's that simple.
You've probably heard of Simon Sinek's book Start With Why. I love that book. But sometimes you don't start with why. You start with where.
Think about being lost in a big shopping centre. You find the map on the wall. The most useful thing on it is the little arrow that says you are here. Without that, the rest of the map is no use to you.
So the first step is to see things as they really are. No better than they are, no worse. No fantasy, no catastrophe. Just here.
B is for belief
Next you have to believe change is possible. If you don't believe you can do something, you're probably right.
People say seeing is believing. I think it's the other way round. Believing is seeing.
And if you're so stuck you can't find any belief at all? Find someone who's been where you are and come through it. Even one person will do. If they managed it, it's possible. Your result might look different, but it proves you can.
C is for courage
This is the uncomfortable bit. The thing you need to do to get the result you want is probably the thing you're not doing. If you were already doing it, you'd already have the result.
You can read every book and watch every video. You can pay for all the coaching in the world. If you never take action, nothing moves. I learned at twelve that the only place success comes before work is in the dictionary, and it's stuck with me ever since. These days I prefer the word practice to work. You won't get it right first time. Practice gets you moving, and done beats perfect.
Lockdown feels a long time ago
Lockdown feels like a long time ago now. The new normal came and went, and another one after it. The three letters haven't changed. Whatever you're trying to change, you still have to know where you're starting, believe you can move, and then actually move. There's a running example of all three in What marathon training taught me about big goals, and if courage is the missing bit, Sometimes you have to get uncomfortable might help.
First published April 2020.
