What do coming of age boys and women 50 and over coming back from burn-out have in common?  If you have seen the new version of Karate Kid , you know that the star, Dre Parker a 12 year old boy, is forced to move to a new country (China).  When he arrives he has to adjust to an entirely new home, neighborhood and school with its bullies.  We are often similar to Dre when faced with a challenging change.  However, like Dre, when we wholeheartedly take on the challenge, we often can exceed our own expectations.  Three things we can do to support our success in making changes are:

Face the challenge.  Dre was encouraged to face his harassers by an unlikely Kung Fu trainer who becomes his best friend.  The choice to be honest and face them actually escalated the challenge, and it also gave Dre something very solid to focus on, winning a martial arts tournament.  Your focus can be enhanced by having twice as many reasons to make your desired changes as you have reasons not to.  Thus, when you want to quit, you will have yet another reason to persist.  For example, you are likely to find you want to trade in an adrenalin driven life style for a way of living that provides peace and contentment.

Practice the new skills.  Dre is required to do a series of simple, humble tasks over and over again. He tires of them and doesn’t really understand what all he is learning.  What brain science tells us is that if we want to learn new skills we have to replace the old neural pathways with new ones and that takes time and lots of repetition.  Learning to write an impactful 5-7 minute speech often took hours during my first year of  Toastmasters.  Little did I know how that discipline of outlining key points and backing them up with detailed stories would improve not only my speech writing but my thinking!  The practice paid off.  Toastmasters not only gave me a place to improve my skills but unexpected benefits of weekly shared laughter and on-going support.

Find your inner hero.  Dre, discovered his inner hero, a part of him that would not crumble to peer pressure or pain.  He overcame tremendous odds in part thanks to his inner hero.  For me one of the ways that I have jumped into change with a lot more enthusiasm and succeeded is to draw on my inner Diva of Delight. She expands my curiosity, creative thinking and calls me forth in ways that my serious self can’t even imagine.  Change becomes a more intriguing and fun when you discover and cultivate your inner champion who believes in you and gives you new ways to show up.

So, ladies,

Who is your inner champion?
What does she look like (Wonder Woman, Eleanor Roosevelt, Tina Turner)?
What wisdom and skills (courage, tenacity, compassion, irreverence, etc.) can she bring forth in you to enhance your life?

Know that your INNER HEROINE is there for you, walks continuously with you and wants you to have a life you relish.