Guest blog from Nick Evans – Read more of his thoughts on life HERE

I don’t usually go in for these kind of messages. You know the ones. Inspirational quotes placed on a backdrop of a beach, landscape or some kind of famous figure.  There are so many. Don’t get me wrong, some of course are good – that Ghandi or Einstein were pretty profound dudes, but like anything these days when it becomes a marketing ploy, it dumbs down the profound impact, loses the intellectual stimulate and  forces us to become jaded and cynical.

I’m more of a ‘show me don’t tell me’ kind of a guy. It’s easy for us to paint pictures of inspiration or spiritual greatness on social media whilst behaving like a total self centred egotistical idiot in real life. With clever packaging you can make the image so much deeper and richer than the actual reality. I suppose that’s the way of modern times. Spin, image, soundbite, ‘digital footprint’ are all important in creating an image and brand. I should try it some day!

I saw the above image posted on my friend’s Facebook profile today and really liked it.

1 – because it’s placed on an Underground sign at Tooting.

2 – because someone has gone to the trouble of trying to make the day lighter and more thoughtful for commuters (and himself) and

3 – It’s a straight to the point non bull**** statement which happens to be true.

It certainly made me think. Did you? Ringing close to home which is always the hallmark of a good statement. Challenging you and making you feel something. Sometimes I am so wrapped up in the result or end product, I forget about the process to get there. Sometimes I sit and want change so much I miss the point it is an actionable energy not just a thought.

We may have goals, objectives or visions, whatever you may call them. Lose weight, run a marathon, earn £250k, buy a house, have a kid, get a new job, write that novel. It’s great to have dreams or goals but how many of us simply focus on that end result without having the slightest clue how to get there?

How many of us have wanted change in our lives? Job, habits, smoking, relationships, finances, drinking or whatever it maybe. Change is easy to want but hard to action in my experience. It’s when you do make changes that the gold really comes. It creates an unstoppable momentum and energy that is so positive that results become a by product of it.

According to the quote (who is Jack Nixon by the way? He’s officially my favourite person now) – If we focus on the result we never change, but if we focus on the change the result will come.

I love it. It’s simple, concise and so accurate. I’m a believer.

The trouble with focusing on a result is you forget the journey. If it’s as simple as losing weight for instance. Let’s say 2 stone and you pin up your target weight on the fridge, tell everyone and then think ,Ok how do I do it? How do I actually change my diet, eating, exercise, life, patterns of behaviour to get to my target weight. How do I get that result?

Hard isn’t it? Overwhelming at times. Probably why there are so many self help books, therapists and counsellors. What about the quick fix ‘fat burning’ or ‘slimming industry’. All aimed at results based people. Mostly based on fear or shame. They miss the point.

What if we turned it on it’s head like the statement. What happens if we concentrated on the change first? Yes of course it’s good to have a goal in mind, but if we concentrated on trying to change our patterns, processes and procedures wouldn’t the weight come off anyway?

What about if we made an effort to eat a particular way. We got up and exercised within 2 hours of waking 5 days a week. What if we employed a coach or fitness expert? Or joined a class and went. Or even we cut one thing from our diet we knew was doing us harm? All of these are either small or massive changes we are effecting. By doing this we will probably lose weight. We will probably start to feel better about ourselves and if that happens it will give us more incentive to carry on and make more changes. It creates that energy and momentum.

I have experienced this process. I have seen friends go through it. A mate of mine recently lost a lot of weight over a period of a year. I looked at his journey with fascination. Firstly he was more focused on the result than the change. Then when he got into the process more and made small changes he reached the tipping point. He had lost so much weight it made him feel great so it super motivated him to make more changes. The momentum changed.

The end result was massive weight loss and him feeling so excited to get into a normal suit. It was a by product of his changes and fundamental shift in attitude and energy. The result just happened almost as a by product of the changes.

Does the mind come before change or does change come before the mind?

Who knows if i’m honest! All I know is it’s good to have both. But if one is playing silly buggers don’t let it win. If the mind says ‘don’t go out and run this morning’. Have ‘smart feet’ and get out there. The head will eventually catch up. Positive action leads to positive thinking in my experience.

The point is don’t post up a picture of a yacht or car as your ultimate goal and expect to get there, simply ask yourself ‘what am I doing today to take me closer to my dream and what do I need to change to get there.”

If you have that level of self honesty you are already half way there and actually trying change is a positive action whereas focusing on a result is not an action. It is a desire and that’s OK. But as we know faith without works is dead. It’s in action the energy shifts and all kind of remarkable things follow and we get a ‘result’. Change is an action. Its a doing thing. A result is an end goal. A finality. It’s not an action it’s an inaction.