By Peter Comrie

Here’s Why a Personal Transformation And a Home Renovation Are Similar

Have you worked on your own personal transformation before?

Your own “inner renovation,” so to speak?

Many of you know how it is…

You wake up every morning, and you’re unhappy with the way things are. You’re using outdated systems, things are harder than they should be, it’s not where you thought you’d be right now, 

You’re finally at the point where the pain of living this way is more than the pain to change it.

Of course, I’m talking about home renovations.

Do you remember when you first saw your home? It was easy to look past the flaws because it was perfect in some other way that held your attention. You figured renovating that painfully outdated (insert your reality here) was a job you could handle a year or two down the line, and then everything really would be perfect.

You knew that eventually, you would transform it into your dream home and that all it would take is a little bit of time and money. You ignored simple issues because the overall big picture was something you thought was perfect.

And let’s not even get started on your neighbour who finished all their renovations shortly after they moved in and are now relaxing on their magazine perfect back deck! Their life is different than yours. If they were in your shoes, they’d still be living with things they hate, right?

Your Own Personal Transformation is Just Like a Home Renovation

Much like people struggle with their own personal transformation, it’s possible that you struggled to transform your home – life got in the way, excuses piled up, you never seemed to have the time.

As the years’ pass, you consider moving somewhere else and just buying exactly what you want without having to renovate, but in the end, you decide to work with what you have.

When you start to realize that working on and improving what you have brings more happiness and fulfillment to your life than just starting over completely, you’ll find that completing your own personal transformation – or your own home renovation – can actually be a fun and rewarding experience.

It’s time to start making your home your castle. You can already imagine just how fantastic it’s going to be! You happily put up with the construction mess and noise because it’s all going to be worth it.

How to Overcome Challenges During Your Personal Transformation

When you work on a renovation, that one first piece of bad news always hits. 

Maybe there’s been a leak behind the walls and there’s black mold. Or the linoleum under the floor you just pulled up has asbestos. Or there’s a structural problem you didn’t know about and you’ll have to pay big money to fix a problem you’ll never even see.

Whatever you uncover, you have to deal with it. And whatever that cost is, you’ll have to find the money by not doing something else you had your heart set on. 

Is this starting to sound familiar when you compare it to your own personal transformation?

Working on yourself is never easy. While you have an end goal that will reward you with pride and fulfillment,  getting there can be difficult. It can present challenges, make you question yourself and your abilities, and force you to sacrifice certain things. It can present difficult times that require tough decisions.

Going through these types of challenges helps us better understand the bigger picture, as well as the things that are important to accomplish while achieving a goal. It helps us bring things into perspective and helps us learn how to overcome challenges that we may not have faced had we chosen to completely start over.

A lot of us get to a point in renovations where it’s just too much. Everything’s a mess, projects are half-finished, the family is ready to revolt and take their love and support elsewhere, and you wish it could all just go away. You doubt yourself and your plans, you have no hope of ever finishing, and you’re exhausted.

But somehow you still get up every morning (well, at least most mornings), you continue to put the work in—even when you can’t see any tangible progress—and day by agonizing day you get a little closer to your vision.

Accomplishing Your Goal

It’s probably taken a lot longer than you thought, run over budget, and been way more work than you ever thought possible. Until that fantastic day when you can step back, scan your masterpiece, and say, ‘I love it’!

Your family settles into the bright new space that serves you all so well, and you sit down to join them, content in the knowledge that even the stuff nobody can see was done right and will stand the test of time. 

What an accomplishment!

By now, it’s clear that I wasn’t only talking about home renovations. 

I can tell you from experience that growth and personal transformation takes an almost identical path.

You stay where you are until the pain of staying is more than the pain of change. And change is often painful and always hard. Sometimes—just like in renovations—we make a costly mistake that costs time and relationships. To learn more about the truth about change, click here.

We have to step back and fix what’s behind our walls until we can confidently say our foundation is strong and safe. 

There are these points during personal transformation when it’s tempting to just give up and go back to the uncomfortable place we used to live in. But what I see over and over again is the power of the human spirit insisting on doing the work, pushing through, and getting to that beautiful spot where we can relax and enjoy the good things we’ve worked so hard for.

Remember: we do what we think about most. Don’t think about your personal transformation as a chore or an impossible task. Treat your own personal transformation like you would treat a home renovation. Grind through it, don’t give up, and admire the outcome once you are done. 

And most importantly: never give up!

To learn more about how you can achieve your own personal transformation using our leadership services, here. You can also feel free to contact us today. We offer personal and professional development, conflict mediation and resolution, relationship reconstruction, corporate and individual coaching, and much more.

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