Sometimes it takes a Quantum Leap to get something started. It can be a new healthier living lifestyle or a change in behavior like shutting off the TV at night or it can be sticking to a budget that you've set, over and over again.
What is it that keeps you stuck there? Why do we feel like we try over and over again to get on the right track and it is so elusive? Maybe it just means that the pain of remaining the same isn't great enough yet to force you to take that action. Sometimes that pain becomes greater because we apply the pressure ourselves and sometimes it takes someone else applying the pressure. It can be a turning point in your life that many of us have experienced, those jolting events that command our attention. It could be in the form of a crisis, like a divorce or job loss. Or they may be smaller events that challenge your beliefs, values and your priorities.
If it is enough to make us feel badly and have that feeling of "why am I stuck here?" Then it might be time for a quantum leap.
A quantum leaps explanation is "any sudden change or advance in program policy." -Webster's dictionary Or "It is the link between two entirely separate locations, events or ideas, that magical moment when the previously inexplicable is suddenly explained and a radical new theory is born. - Science Digest
I love the part about "a magical moment... and a radical new theory is born"! If you've ever experienced a quantum leap in your life you know that's exactly how it feels and then your mind once expanded cannot return to it's original state. Once you take a quantum leap and experience a radical change you most probably will not go back to your old ways and that's why it's worth the risk to go there! Not only that, but I believe the energy that you will gain by taking action is unmeasurable and it will give you what you need to continue in the right direction. It may be true that a locomotive takes constant effort and starts ever so slowly until it builds up steam and then it is hard to stop, but in this case I'm thinking it's like a rocket going off! One big blast and everything is set into motion and you are climbing higher and higher in a matter of seconds!
So what does it take to make a quantum leap? Let me make it really simple.... a decision. Yes, that's the answer, a decision. You have to decide that there is no turning back. That whatever it is that your going to try to take a quantum leap to attain is worth it. Worth the effort, worth the risk and what you truly want, because if it is not then there is no reason to even go there.
I can remember when I was going through my recovery for overspending and I had finally gotten clear on my problem. It was one of the most detrimental things in my life and although I was in denial for a long time and it took some pretty deep pain to get me to the point of change, I will never forget the day I said "no more!" When my thoughts shifted and believe it or not I knew at that moment that I'd never go back, that my thoughts about it where now different and I wanted it so badly I was not going to allow myself to slip back into those bad habits. My mind had been expanded. I no longer thought the way I once did about spending and I knew it was a quantum leap.
I have tried before to make that quantum leap with something that I was not as passionate about and found that it just doesn't work. It was a career goal that I wasn't entirely sure I wanted with a passion and I wanted to make a quantum leap happen to just get to the end result and partly it was because I only wanted it because others wanted it for me. In that case it just doesn't work. You can't fool your mind into believing you really want something when you don't.
I see people do this all the time with diet and exercise. They say they want to be healthier or that they want to lose weight but they back it up with all of the excuses why it won't work for them. They've already decided that they cannot give up ice cream and that an occasional burger and fries won't hurt them. But before they know it they are convincing themselves that a burger a week is okay. It is true that you don't have to give up everything, and totally deprive yourself your likes, but occasional might mean once a month and even then it means a scoop of ice cream not a whole huge bowl or a whole container! The problem is they don't want it bad enough. They are not all in yet. They are still on the fence deciding if they really want to be that committed. At that point a quantum leap won't work.
You've got to be all in, no turning back! Something you want so much it drives you crazy and you want to be "different", not the same as you've always been. You have to want to change. Then you can take that step and it needs to be a huge step. A "barf bag" goal! Something that makes you a little queasy when you think about it. Your mentality needs to be "I'm going to do things totally differently from here on out! I'm not just making a small change but I am rearranging my whole attempt! If a football player wants to make the starting team but for 4 years he's been the backup player in that position, do you think a small change here or there will get him the starting spot? Likely not. He has to totally dedicate himself to a quantum leap. It may mean not taking an off season and working twice as hard as anybody else when most are taking some down time. He might have to be the first to practice and the last one to leave, giving 100% each day. He may have to hire outside experts to get him to a level he's never reached before, but if he does all that and is a radically different player come the new season, you can bet someone is going to notice. And that's how he can surpass the starting player in his position.
What position do you want to hold? What is it that you really want to change? Sit down and write it out. Give yourself the "why" of being there. What drives you to make this change? Make a list so big that you realize that there is no way you don't want to achieve this because the "why" is too big! It means to much to you not to give it your all and change your destiny.
Then develop an action plan. Think way far out of your box here, the sky is the limit! Go above and beyond what you think your limits will be. This is your goal list of "if I do all of these things then I am sure to succeed". Then begin telling yourself that you WILL succeed! You will find a way to make it happen. And say it so much to yourself that you BELIEVE it! And no one will be able to push you off course, because your convictions are too strong! Then Go To Work! Every day give it your best effort at attaining your goals and making it happen. You are a rocket that has been blasted off and you are heading upward with such force and there is nothing that can slow you down! Put it in your space everyday so that you are looking at your goals and reminding yourself of that power you have going on. Don't get complacent by not having it in your thoughts at all times.
Then.... watch what happens! :)
