3 keys to finding the new you!!

“If I serve tea in crystal, the shop is going to expand. And then I’ll have to change my way of life.” “Well, isn’t that good?”

“I’m already used to the way things are… The shop is exactly the size I always wanted it to be. I don’t want to change anything, because I don’t know how to deal with change. I’m used to the way I am. …. you are forcing me to look at wealth and at horizons I have never known. Now that I have seen them, and now that I see how immense my possibilities are, I’m going to feel worse than I did before you arrived. Because I know the things I should be able to accomplish and I don’t want to do so. – The Alchemist

1. You have to be willing to embrace real change to find the new you.

It may seem obvious, that change is the first key but we can’t miss the word real. Far too often, instead of real change, we use bandaids to try and cover up our hurts just hoping that they won’t get infected until they heal. We live in a culture that wants bandaids and quick fixes so that we don’t have to do the hard work of real change.

Weight loss surgery or buying a pill that will make weight loss a breeze instead of doing the hard work of changing the way we eat. Visiting casinos and playing the lottery instead of doing the hard work of saving money. We love bandaids and quick fixes.

Mark 2:21-22 says He went on, “No one cuts up a fine silk scarf to patch old work clothes; you want fabrics that match. And you don’t put your wine in cracked bottles.”

The new you is in there hiding behind a bunch of bandaids be willing to rip them off and do the hard work of real change. The new you has been trying to get out but it keeps getting pressed down. Let it out.

2. Comfort is the enemy of the new you!!

Many people have said often that comfort is a drug. The sooner we realize that statement is not just a mantra but an actual truth the sooner you can start finding the new you, I would dare say the real you. Comfort becomes a way to numb ourselves and keeps us from being able to see clearly ourselves in a metaphorical mirror.

The new you is hiding and screaming to be let out. The alchemist quote above illustrates how we use comfort to drug us from the pain of knowing we were meant for so much more. Netflix literally had to put a pop-up screen that says are you still watching, TikTok has a built-in message stop scrolling and go do something. We can so easily fall into a zombie coma of comfort and lose hours of our lives. Comfort is your enemy.

The best thing you can do is begin slowly building habits in your life to wake the new you up and give it the energy to change. Give up some comfort each day to stretch yourself to new growth. The new you is waiting rip out the iv of comfort and let’s go.

3. Find people that can see the new you and spend time with them.

The shopkeeper in the above quote from the alchemist is upset that the visitor has pulled back the curtain and challenged him to see what could be. It is easier to not know that we can be different, that we can be better, that with some simple hard work our lives could have purpose and meaning. The people we choose to hand with can either feed our delusion of ease and comfort or they can challenge us to become the person we were meant to be, the new you.

I have heard so many times you are the combination of the five people closest to you, show me your friends I will show you your future, and many combinations of the same thought. The new you many times is being held back because of the people you allow closest to you. If you want real change you will have to be willing to reevaluate the people that are closest to you and may even have to walk away from many of them. This journey to the new you isn’t going to be easy but please by anyway possible start the journey.