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Welcome to It's a Good Life with Brian Buffini, founder of America's largest business coaching company. Here's a short classic cut from one of our all time favorite episodes.

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The title of today's podcast is how to change your life once and for all. And you know, change is hard. Change is difficult. In fact, a lot of people question whether change is even possible. Now, I don't believe that in the time I'm going to spend with you today, I can answer all of the riddles that come with change. So the question is, how do you change? And the first thing I want to talk to you is change is very hard, bloody hard, as they'd say at home. And that's why it takes so much work, it takes so much effort. It takes these external applications of maybe books or audios or coaching or training or many other different tips we'll get into today. But change is hard. But as you grow through life, sometimes you want to change. But I think we're a lot like homing pigeons where we constantly come back to the same spot. We go out and we flap our wings, we try our best, we flap into the wind, we try and try and try, but at the next thing you know, bit by bit, like a homing pigeon, we always come back to roost. I read a quote here recently, it said people don't change until the pain of staying the same is greater than the pain of the change. So the truth of the matter is most people change because of pain. And the avoidance are getting away from pain. The next reason, second biggest reason that people change is that change is happening to them. And we're going to talk about that today. The difference between passive change and proactive change. And then the third type of change is aspirations and goals. But at the end of the day, the world is changing. You were born onto a planet that spins. If the planet stops spinning, we all die. So the world is changing and it's changing at a pace that's unheard of. So the real key is, are you gonna change or is change gonna happen to you? Change, by definition is to become different or to have a different position or to, or to take a different course or a different direction. My mother used to say the only person that likes change is a baby with a wet nappy or a diaper, as they say here in America. But what we want to do is not be the baby with the wet diaper. You know, we want to be proactive about this. And so what I'm going to challenge you to today is the Bigger picture. The bigger picture is, you know, I made a bold statement today. Here's how you can change once and for all. Well, here's how it happens. And I have some insight on this because I've made some permanent changes in my life, in my thinking, in my motivations and in my methodologies and what I do. And so I want to give you some pieces that I've learned along the way. I met a great man years ago whose name was Lou Tice, and Lou passed away a few years ago, but brilliant, brilliant man. This is the quote that I most identify with, Lou Tice. And it says, all permanent, lasting change starts on the inside and works its way to the outside. And that's why the process of transformation is so powerful. The adversities that you face, the challenges that you face, the things that have caused you sleepless nights, the worries that have occupied your mind, the circumstances you've had to overcome, the time that it took to do it, that is all the development process. The fact of the matter is this, boys and girls, we are who we are today because of what we've endured, what we fought through and where we are. How many of you honestly listening to this, can think of some really tough, sometimes brutally difficult things you've had to go through in your life? And you go, I wouldn't want to experience that again. I wouldn't want anyone, I love to experience that. But you also know that it was kind of the making of you. And, and in many cases that's the case. If you want to have permanent change, the first thing to get after is your own mindset. If you can change your mindset, you can change your life. No question about it. Motivations. You challenge your motivations and you develop in your motivations. My motivations as a 25 year old are different than the motivations as a 50 year old. And you have to develop and change in your motivations. And then last but not least is your methodologies. You have to do something. So let's talk about your mindset. John Maxwell, great writer, says, nothing will impact your life more than changing your thinking. Right? And so we have to do that. Maxwell has a bunch of great quotes on this. He goes, people don't change because they see the light, they change because they feel the heat. No question about it. My challenge to you is, don't just react to that. Get your eyes on the prize. What are my gifts? What have I done well in the past? What can I do? What would I love to do? What would I do if I knew I couldn't fail. What would I do if money wasn't an obstacle? What's the right thing to do? We have to get past our circumstances, like, what's the right thing to do? And then figure it out. And then figure it out. So the first thing you gotta do is work on the mindset. Second thing is kind of work on those motivations, you know, examine what motivates you today. My motivations have changed over time because I keep working at them. Your motivation. So understand that if you're feeling unmotivated, usually it's because that which motivated you in the past doesn't motivate you today. You can find new motivations going forward. You'll find as your motivations grow and your success grows, a lot of times you'll become more and more motivated by things outside yourself. Things where you have a chance to serve, chance to give, chance to help. Things that might be motivated. Some people are motivated by their legacies, you know, those kinds of things. Things change. And then lastly here. So I don't go on and on. I'm not trying to change the world in one day here today is methodologies. So we've covered mindsets and motivations, and now I want to get into some methodologies which are basically some how to's for doing this. So I'll give you a couple things. Obviously, books. Books are fantastic things. Podcasts, these things are growing by leaps and bounds. Audiobooks. Audiobooks are grown massively in popularity. So again, that's an old Zig Ziglar ism. Turn your car into a mobile classroom. So podcasts, audiobooks, and make your trip work for you. And I'm not saying it's all you do, right? I listen to some music, I listen to this. But I'm at my best, and I feel like I'm at my best when I'm growing. So when you find something that does it for you, put it into the car. Another great thing is journaling. Now, journaling was very, very helpful for me for a lot of years. And one of the things it did for me is when you're growing as a person, it's hard to know that you're grown. You know, it's easier. The caterpillar probably has a good idea. You know, I'm not a caterpillar anymore. It's hard to know that as a person, unless you're going, okay, my net worth or my number of sales or this is maybe it's inches or weight I'm measuring. How do you know you're grown? How Would you know your mindset's changing? Well, the only way I really ever was able to figure that out would be to go back and read old journals. Another great thing, obviously, is classes, seminars. That's pretty obvious coaching. Now, that's not just a great pitch for the business I have. I mean, you know, there's a reason our average client goes from making 35 grand to 360 grand. The coaching works. You know, coaching is good. Whatever your business is or life is, there's great, great opportunities out there for some coaching associations. Who you spending your time with, who you hanging out with. That stuff influences you. Not only your attitude, but also your altitude. You know, if you're a caterpillar and you want to be a butterfly, once you hang out with a few butterflies and see what it's like, see what it's like to fly, it'll change things for you. You know, the bottom line is this. I want you to know this. If you're listening to this podcast, you're already a winner. Not because you're listening to me, because you're the type of person who takes the time to go download information that you can listen to to try to improve your life. That, to me, is you're in the game. You're a winner. The next piece is don't just focus on changing for change and sake. Focus on transformation. Start with renewing the mind. Start with focusing on those motivations and then getting into the methodologies. And then lastly, mindset motivation and methodologies have to show up in practical things that you do. So what's one thing that I've given you today that you're gonna say, you know what I'm gonna do that is that I'm gonna start the day and meditate. Okay, that's probably the last little tip I have. That's one that's really helped me change my thinking. What's the one thing you're gonna do? Are you gonna take a class? Are you gonna start journaling? Are you gonna start reading your journals? Okay, if I've talked about written goals, do you have any written goals? What's the one thing you're gonna do and if you'll take action after hearing information, you are a change agent. You are in the midst of transformation and you are on your way to being a winner.