3 Simple Ideas that Can Dramatically Transform Your Life

As little hinges swing big doors, so the path to life transformation is usually not as spectacular or profound.

What it takes to transform our lives are the minor changes in choices and attitudes. They seem so ordinary that anyone can do it. And that simplicity deceives many people. They end up not making those minor changes that could b life-changing.  

It should be the goal of everyone to improve their lives at least a little better this week than it was the previous week. Why?

Nothing gives more joy than to see yourself getting better and achieving the goals you once thought were outside your reach. 

Personal transformation is therefore among the highest pursuits anyone can aspire towards. It should be the essence of the goals we set for ourselves.

Even when the step to transformation is within the reach of everyone, only a few people attain that goal and find the joy that follows. 

And the reason is not that the changes we need to make are hidden somewhere; but that it's too obvious that we miss it. Most time. 

Instead of making minor changes, most of us prefer to search for something more profound and spectacular, and so we miss it. 

But as we look into these three simple paths to personal transformation, remember Mozart's words:

 "True genius resides in simplicity."

Let's dive right in:

1. Routinely switch between workspaces

If you want to become more creative, routinely switch your working space to somewhere different. 

As you switch between these spaces, your thinking will change. And when that happens, your mind is more alert and creative. 

The environment we stay each time influences the state of our mind and our creativity. 

Over the years, I have noticed that switching to a different room is all I need to get ideas flowing when writer's block strikes. 

Like you, I do most of my writing in my study room. But sometimes the mind gets too used to the study room and shut the supply of new ideas.

Before, I insist but end up mining similar ideas I have had in the past. Uninspiring and pale. 

Now, I switch to an unfamiliar environment, and it makes all the difference. The new environment inspires a new perspective. And with the new perspective comes new ideas and a new angle on familiar ideas. 

The best part is that it doesn't require you to go to the moon or another planet. The spaces you need to inspire new ideas and new perspectives are all around you:

• The kitchen table 

• The sitting room 

• A friend's room (preferably their study room) 

• The balcony of your apartment… 

You can even move outside your house:

• A coffee shop 

• A public library 

• A place of worship (outside service hours)… 

The effect of this action is profound and almost like magic. Ideas will flow with ease and you'll gain a new perspective on common familiar ideas. 

How to spice up your creative moment.

If you have always done your creative work in a designated environment, it is time to twerk things a little. 

If you can move the materials around, like writing pad, laptop, and pen, you can walk into new environments and get creative. 

But for materials you can't move around like a music studio, you can periodically change the environment by,

• changing the wallpaper 

• changing the smell of the room by using a different air fresher 

• changing the color of the bulb to give a different lighting effect… 

… just anything that makes it look, smells and feels different. 

The result?

It will spice up your creative moments and keep your mind flowing with new ideas and insights. 

2. Put your 'dead' time to good use. 

Many of us have more time than we realize we do. The challenge is that we don't see the worth of 'dead' time. For instance,

the 5 minutes we spend on the bed before going to the shower;

 the 20 minutes we spend on the highway driving to work;

 the 5 mins standing till the elevator gets to the 7th floor, the 10 minutes for a lunch break; and

 the 10 mins we spend at the traffic after work ( assuming you have a car driver) 

We rarely see those minutes as a time to invest in. In fact, we see those few minutes as a time that should waste. 

All the horse needs to win a race is a nose. Not the head, not even with the neck. The difference between the horse that wins the race is a nose ahead of the rest. 

If a nose is enough for the horse to win a race, those few 'dead' time is enough for you to get ahead of most people both in business and in life. 

"The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra" - Jimmy Johnson.

Why successful people seem to have more time than most of us.

Successful people have learned to put their dead time to good use. And because they do, they seem to have more time than everybody else. 

Most of them cultivate their minds listening to audiobooks on their way to work, spending 5 minutes making a list of their goals for the day. All the little things, but they become the extra that caps their ordinary life and makes it extraordinary. 

So the people who complain about a lack of sufficient time to cultivate their minds or nourish a creative hobby, have no excuse. 

Do what successful people do with their dead time - invest them. Don't allow them to waste.

 listen to audiobooks if you don't have time to read.

 listen to inspiring podcasts instead of listening to music all day long.

 set goals when you wake up and review them before you go to bed. 

They are little choices but remember a horse wins with a nose. Cash in on your dead time and make it work for you. 

3. Cultivate your spirituality

The neglect of spirituality is one of the greatest undoings of our time. Most people make the mistake of building their lives around physical pleasure.

There is nothing wrong with amassing wealth and all the things money can buy. But true fulfillment goes beyond having the most expensive car, living in the Whitehouse, or becoming the richest man alive. 

True fulfillment comes from discovering your purpose, living it, and contributing to a course greater than you.

One of such is to make life a better place by helping others with our time, talent, and treasure. That is the source of true happiness and fulfillment in life. 

"As we lose ourselves in the service of others, we discover our own lives and our own happiness." Dieter F. Uchtdorf. 

Life is best lived in selfless service to others. 

The joy of living has more to do with what we give of ourselves to others than how much we amass for ourselves. 

All the great heroes of we know - Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Edison, Michael Faraday - are heroes not for their bank balance but how much they contributed to the good of humanity. 

But first, you have to take some time out of the business and distraction of these present times. You need to have time each morning where you can meditate and reflect. 

Read books that help you in that path. Books like the Tao Te Ching by Lao-Tzu and Meditation by Marcus Aurelius is a good place to start.

You can read a chapter of Tao Te Ching each morning or before you go to bed. And gradually its spiritual truth will gradually transform your perspective about life and show you some deep truth about life. 

Final thought

The good and transformed life is within the reach of everyone. And we can start living it almost immediately.

All it takes is doing the simple daily things that lead to self-improvement and personal transformation:

 • switch between environment to enhance your creativity and keep your mind alive.

• make good use of your 'dead' time. Get productive with 'dead' times. 

• become more self-aware by cultivating your spiritual life through enlightenment and service to others.

These minor changes in choices and attitudes are within your reach, and you can start right now. 

I wish you a dramatic, life-transforming experience as you live these three simple truths.