Since moving to Tampa, from Washington state now three years I found myself, saying I’m living the new normal. My city of. Tacoma was replaced by Tampa. Our school Lighthouse was replaced by Cambridge. We belong to the country club named Carrollwood, we used to belong to Canterwood.

Many things in our past life seemed to be simply renamed in our new life here in in Florida. I actually thought I was living “the new normal”

I was wrong. I was wrong because there is really no such thing for me because without a change in me, there was nothing new.

When I realized this, I realized that although you can change all those things around you, if you don’t learn to completely change who you are, you are exactly in the same place whether you relocated across the country or not.

How to change yourself, here are 5 ways how to be the “new” you:

• Don’t live up to someone’s else’s expectations.
  Family, friends, community may be well meaning but just because they have pegged in a round hole, it is up to you to define yourself even if in that definition you are far from who those around you see you as.
• Analyze if what you are doing is working for you?
  Dr. Phil has made a living saying “how’s it working for you”? Whether you like him or not, he is right. Just because you can defend your position and may be justified in your current actions, if you are experiencing the same issues in your life, you need to change, no question.
• Listen to your critics?
  What do your critics say about you? This is a hard pill to swallow, especially if those critics are people you don’t respect or care for. However there might be something of validity in their assessment of you. This might be a big “might”, but nonetheless if you believe you can learn something from everyone in this life, this is another area you could look to to make a change.
• Assess your current schedule, are you really living your priorities?
  If you write down your top 3 priorities, take a look at your daily or weekly schedule and circle those activities that target these priorities? If you aren’t living what is priority to you, then certainly your life is off track for you.
• Act as if you are a newly hired employee
  Remember how it felt when you started a new job or took a new position. You had an openness to change and a new way to approach your work ethic. Sometimes if you feel your work life is stagnant it is because your behavior is. Act as if you were a new employee and perhaps tackle a project or position in a refreshed way.
• Last, don’t look in the rear view mirror, what does this help? If you keep looking forward in gratefulness for all you have, this alone with change you and begin forming you into the “new” you.

Here is a quote I love:
“THE SINGLE GREATEST THING YOU CAN DO TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE TODAY, WOULD BE TO START BEING GRATEFUL FOR WHAT YOU HAVE RIGHT NOW” – Oprah Winfrey