Have your Life, and Chocolate too! My transformation steps.

Want to know how I transformed my Death by Chocolate downward spiral into a vibrant, purposeful life?
It wasn't a pill or an exercise program or even shock treatment (look up "Pavlok").
It wasn't a single thing at all, but many things at once:

• An Open Mind - Fed up with my shitty life, I had to change. My low energy made motivation hard, but at last I was open to making a change. I recognized that my self-talk was convincing me to stay depressed, and I could change that.
• Invest in Myself - I got rid of that constricting, austerity mindset. It was self-fulfilling: when I focused on not having money, money consumed my thoughts. Still frugal, I began to invest in select areas that would help me grow as a person. I began to trust that financial rewards would likely follow.
• Structure - I wasn't strong enough to break my dark habits on my own. I enrolled in a course that helped me stay focused on my new path.
• Proof that Change is in Reach. - The book, The Slight Edge, had a huge impact on me and deserves a post all unto itself. In a nutshell, it helped me see that most people do the same things every day. But if you want change (i.e. happiness or success), it takes small, easy actions. Key is to do them consistently. This book showed me that over time, change will be exponential.
• A vision of what I wanted of myself in the world. What would it look like if I become worthwhile again? Another way to find your vision is to think "What would I do with $100 million?" After you take care of paying for your creature comforts, think about what is really most important to you. Be clear about the WHY, and, if it is something bigger than yourself, the HOW will happen.
• A guided action plan. I took inventory of my strengths. Set realistic goals in 7 key aspects of my life - spiritual, financial, social, physical, etc. I read inspiring books. I took actions (tiny, but constant steps) toward my goals.
• Healthy choices. - I knew I contributed to my own demise, but that hadn't been enough to make me eat right or exercise before. Only when I learned that my crappy diet caused my body - NOT my lack of will power - to crave more crap, did I radically commit to break the cycle. It was as if a veil lifted for me. I experienced it firsthand: depression could be zapped by food as “medicine.” Soon after eating better, my hopelessness lifted, my energy returned, my mind sharpened, and I could focus on my newly established goals. I went from size 16 to size 10 and my aches and inflammation disappeared.
  Best of all, I didn't have to give up chocolate. I just switched -- from mindlessly overeating sugary milk chocolate, to savoring high quality dark chocolate.
• Spiritual practice - a daily walking meditation chanting a universal prayer keeps me connected to the universal divine.
• Gratitude - nothing new here except the idea of "hard gratitude" - how could I be grateful for this depressive funk? this extra weight? not having a job?
• Laughter - In order to feel happy, I realized "like attracts like." Instead of isolating myself and my expanding misery, I decided to try everyday to get someone new to smile or laugh. Inevitably, I smiled and laughed, too. Joy is contagious. I was socializing again!
• Sunshine - nature has always been both healing and spiritual for me. There are studies that show sunshine boosts mood and health.
• Exercise - a renewed determination helped me stick to a simple, realistic, practice.
• Loving support of my incredible family and friends made all things possible.

---

### Are you the change you want to see in the world? Let's see what we have in common!

Have you had an internal transformation? I’d like to hear how you changed. What made you shift for the long haul?