Why You Must Be the One to Change Something if You Want Something to Change

Lisa Edwards
May 18
4 min read

Updated: Aug 3

Woman sits on a bench overlooking a scenic landscape. Text reads, "Why You Must Be the One to Change Something if You Want Something to Change."

Do you ever look at your life and wish things were different? Do you lay awake at night wishing you had the power to change your life? What if I told you that you do have that power hidden deep within you?

Just the very thought of making changes in your life can be overwhelming. It can be even more difficult to actually do, especially if you haven’t yet changed your mindset to accommodate the changes you plan to make.

Changing your mindset is the toughest thing you will ever do. Tougher than making the physical changes you want to make, and this is why so few people do it. Most give up before they start. In my experience people either find it too hard to do and therefore don’t even try or they don’t believe that mindset has anything to do with how our life plays out, and that we have no power over our own lives and that you just have get on with whatever life throws at you.

A while ago I had a difficult couple of days that highlighted the need for some rather large changes in my life, I was so overwhelmed that I took a couple of days off from work to try to focus. Feeling the need for a declutter I found a pile of printed old Instagram and blog posts that I wanted to redo with new pictures updated content etc… then I came across that said ‘If you change nothing, nothing will change’ Ouch! That really hit me to be honest! I found a picture that resonated with me as much as the quote and here is the result.

Person at desk with book on face, looking frustrated. Text on wall reads "If you change nothing, nothing will change." Plant in background. — If You Change Nothing, Nothing Will Change.

Yep, that is me… not literally but it’s how I felt most days at work. My day job needed sorting out once and for all! For over 6 years I have been unhappily working in a highly toxic environment, and it has ‘got’ to me again. Most of the time I can use my positivity and sunny demeanour to dispel the toxicity that hits me as soon as I walk in the door every morning. But at this particular time… I am not a mean or nasty person, but the negativity and/or toxicity of my workplace got to me so much that I came very close to saying something I would never be able to take back and would always regret. I realised that I had to make changes.

Woman in gray tank top doing yoga with hands in prayer pose, overlooking lush green hills. Text reads "We rise to the level of our values or fall to the level of our wounds."

On his podcast ‘A Diary of a CEO’ Steven Bartlett once said “We rise to the level of our values or fall to the level of our wounds”

I came to the conclusion that my place of work was a tether keeping me at the level of my wounds and I am constantly fighting, trying to cut the ropes and rise to the level of my values. Every time I start to make headway something happens and my old, wounded mindset kicks in and I fall back into old ways… nothing changes.

Although highly qualified and experienced in the job I am in, I had applied for similar positions but without success, I felt stuck in this toxic place with no escape.

It was time to come up with a plan to change my mindset from being guided by my past negative programming to an empowered mindset that will provide me with everything I need to leave the toxic environment I have endured. I did a lot of work in those couple of days, I spent time looking at my mindset, my attitude, my habits, my expectations, my beliefs, my values etc. and took stock of them all then I began working on what needed to be changed, I looked at those around me who have an impact on my life and checked to see who was having a positive effect on me and who was draining me and taking without giving anything back. The detrimental effect a toxic person has on your life should not be underestimated. They are sneaky with it, and they can be very difficult to identify and until you do you will wonder why your life is not going in the direction you want it to go in. You will wonder what is holding you back. Big changes happened, a highly (yet well disguised) toxic person was identified, and I took the step of telling them they were no longer welcome in my life.

Within two weeks an opportunity to relocate with a promotion dropped into my lap.

Sometimes the change we need to make isn’t the change we think we need to make. I thought it was just my job I needed to change, but it was a change in my personal life that freed me, and the universe took care of the rest.

If you want something to change, change something.

What will you change today? let me know in the comments 😊