Cultivating the Soil (see also creating the space for growth)

When making changes and choosing new directions for personal growth, it is imperative you take the time to slow down and prepare. The preparation involves tying in your current values and beliefs you hold regarding this new endeavor.

1) What are the values in the new choice you are choosing now?
2) How does it differ from values and/or beliefs you may have held close to you in the past?
3) Are you willing to hold onto these new values and beliefs as you let go of the old?
4) What will support you while you create these new beliefs and honor these new values?

You have to spend time cultivating the soil for your new growth. The beginning stages of change and growth are often the most critical because habit and time naturally solidify commitment.
In the beginning you have to combat old habits while you find ways to support and encourage the new ones you are trying to implement. Being able to allow the new growth to blossom is a result of practicing and understanding new habits, beliefs, values, and reinforcing supports, which will become stronger over time.
Cultivation involves a process of prioritizing and understanding that others around you may be resistant to the changes you are nurturing for yourself. At these times, look at the values and beliefs you have listed and ask yourself if these are worth preserving. When you are moving towards new values and beliefs, it is vital that you find the places, people and things that will nurture this new growth in you as well.

Ask yourself,
1) Who do I know who might share this same value, belief or goal?
2) What environment (s) would best support this new value, belief or goal?
3) What supports do I need in order to keep believing in my ability to foster this new growth?

It really becomes a process of redefining yourself and prioritizing your time to foster the new growth. Priority is defined as “main concern, something given special attention, the right to precede other in order, preceding in time, etc”. How you spend your time says a lot about what you is important to you in life. Whether you like it or not, how you spend your time determines what is most important to you. I invite you to take a look at how you are spending your time and what the value and belief is behind that. When you take a look at your new growth you are fostering, ask yourself:

1) How much time am I spending cultivating my new growth?
2) What is the benefit for me in nurturing this new growth?
3) How might others benefit from this as well?

Again, as with anything new, riding a bike, learning a foreign language, losing weight, it takes more time, attention, focus, will, commitment, dedication and support to get to a comfortable place with it. You simply have to put more time in the beginning. So your new growth that you want to nurture inside of you will be able to grow strong and long lasting.
One technique I find to be helpful with putting this new growth at the top of your priorities list involves the antithesis of the phrase “out of sight, out of mind”. I refer to it as, “In Sight, In Mind”. What you think about expands and when you can visualize the growth you would like to see it enables you to have a positive image to refer to when things get rough. Have you ever heard of the phrase, “see it to believe it”?

This is the same concept. The power of the mind is one of the first steps to creating the healthy growth you want to see:

1) Take some time to be still and list out the values and beliefs you have found to be associated with this new growth
2) Find ways to keep these values and beliefs “In Sight, In Mind”. Go to those places that will naturally nurture these values and beliefs. Get creative with it!
3) Create a visual image of the growth and change you wish to see. Draw it out if you find that will be helpful as well.

This process of growth and change takes focus and time. Growth and change happens on all levels: mind, body and spirit. In my next submission, I will focus more on the body component for change.