Good morning Reader,

As you start your day, drink your morning coffee, and get through your Sunday routine, I want you to sit for a moment with this one question:

How badly do you want change?

Not the dramatic 'overhaul your life, take everything out, and move to Bali' kind of change either.

But the quieter one. The one where you know there are many things you want to do and experience, you have many dreams and goals you want to accomplish, you have many relationships you want to build or improve, and still, you're not truly doing anything to get closer to them.

Usually, it's because we feel stuck and paralyzed by the situation. We feel discouraged because we think we don't have many options available to us, and the few options we see open to us don't feel perfect, or good, or even big enough. We feel like no matter what we do, we won't be able to accomplish the goal, or solve the problem, or even improve the situation.

And so, because we feel so discouraged and powerless to create real change, we do nothing.

And it feels safe. You tell yourself that if you do nothing, then nothing bad can happen either.

But doing nothing also guarantees that nothing good will happen either. Doing nothing is the one option that guarantees that nothing changes in your life.

I tell you this because if your response to my previous question, "How badly do you want change?", is the same as mine and you also said 'badly, I want it badly', then there's only one thing that will truly create it:

Do THE thing.

(And I'm pretty sure you already know what THE thing is for you).

• Take the messy action.
• Count backwards and just take the first step.
• Show up before you feel ready.
• Make the scary move.
• Have the uncomfortable conversation.
• Walk the path that keeps calling you.

I know what the thing is for me. I also know that your thing may be completely different from mine.

Still, no matter what it is, the change that you want to see happen in your life won't happen unless you decide to create it. That new life and those new things that you want in your life won't magically appear.

You need to go out there and grab them for yourself. You need to build them through action. Through: New habits. New beliefs. New perspectives. New mindsets. New ways of responding. New standards. New goals. New ways of being you and showing up.

We feel stuck. Completely frozen. Not because of the lack of options, but because none of the options are perfect. None of the options feels big enough. None will solve the entire problem or fix the entire issue.

Action, no matter how messy or small it may be, is the entry point to change.

And so very often, the most important and best things of our lives are just a byproduct of a lot of imperfect, messy, and small actions, done consistently.

As Teddy Roosevelt said, "Do what you can, with what you have, where you are."

Because as you continue on the path forward, you will often face moments where you will feel completely helpless and powerless in the situation you're facing. You will feel discouraged about your ability to change things or create an impact around you. You'll freeze and get stuck. You'll be unable to see how you can improve things or how you can improve your life.

In those moments, I want you to remind yourself of something:

You're never 100% powerless, no matter how the situation may look. You're never completely stuck, in a job, in a city, in a relationship, in a place, in a feeling, in a situation. You're never completely without options.

You can always do something (no matter how small you think it is), and you can always move.

So, you can always choose to stay paralyzed by the discouragement you feel when you believe that you cannot change anything. Or you can DECIDE to take action. To do what you can, with what you have, where you are.

You can ask yourself, "Even when I feel small, even when I feel that no matter what I do, I won't be able to change anything, what is the smallest action I can take today to show up for the change I want to see in my life? What can I do right now with what I have available to me?"

You can't change your life in a day. But every day you can make small changes to your life.

And this mindset is not only for the big moments, or for the storms, or for the problems that come into your life.

• It's also for the ordinary Wednesday when you snooze the alarm three times, and you resist going out of your warm bed.
• It's for that project and that business idea that you keep coming back to and that you've been thinking about for the last three years, but that you keep saying that you will do later, next week, next month, next year, or when things feel better or "more ready".
• It's for those days when you want to skip the gym, the workout, the run, because everything feels like too much and you're too overwhelmed by daily life.
• It's for that hard conversation you know you need to have but keep avoiding because you know it could change things, and because it means exposing yourself and being vulnerable.
• It's for those dreams that are two, five, ten, even twenty years old that you keep telling yourself are too big and too out of your reach, even to begin.

This mindset is for both, the big and small moments of your life.

It's about believing that no matter what, you're more than capable of changing things and of creating momentum. That you have the ability to improve and create a life you love.

That belief is what allows you to continue taking action; small, imperfect, messy action.

But action that allows you to move forward.

Something I'm watching

This week, we started watching The Madison. And honestly, both the images and the story are beautiful. If you're looking for something to watch next, I recommend you try this one.

There's a part in the first episode where the character of Kurt Russel talks about how often we work our whole lives to get to a specific point, and then when we get to that point, we're not able to truly enjoy it.

I think it was a beautiful reminder to make the memories now, instead of waiting for later, for when you have the money, or lose the weight, or get into the relationship, or get the success.

Life is happening now. Let's never forget it.

​You can watch the short clip of this scene here.​

Just make the coffee

I read this story in Sahil Bloom's newsletter, and it inspired me about how even the little things we can do, create an impact in the lives around us.

I want you to read the story in the article below and then read that last paragraph again...

And the next time you face a situation and start to feel helpless, remember:

You can't change the weather, you can't change the problems, or the losses you get in life, and you can't change other people's feelings. But you can always make the coffee.

So, just make the coffee.

Love creating your mind one day at a time? Forward this to a friend so they can get in on the action and sign up below. Subscribe to The Created Mind Thank you for reading and sharing, Jenny ​​​​

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