Don’t think for a single second that it’s going to be easy.   That’s a mistake that people make.  Changing your life–rebooting yourself is a jarring process.  We don’t–most times–have the luxury of conversion with Our Lord on the way to Damascus–having a real moment with Him that changes who we are. 

I don’t have the same persuasive abilities as the Omnipotent, but you’ve found yourself here, at the beginning.  You’ve set out to change, you’ve just got to want to do it.  You’ve got to decide to do it. You’ve got to decide to subordinate yourself, your ego, and your life to who you will be.

 So some first steps–and yes, you will have more steps beyond this:

1. Decide who that is.  Your ideal self.  It’s going to look different than your present self, so what kind of (wo)man will you be? 
2. Decide why it is that you want to be that person.   It’s easy to set goals that don’t really matter that “sound good.”  So consider: is this–at the core of your being–who you want to be and what you want to be doing?  Is it realistic?  Is it something that your minds eye has pictured…all your life…but you’ve been unable to make the connection.
3. Write it down.  For me, my mission is here: www.leftovermoxy.com/mission.  Make it real. 
4. Expect change to be hard.  It’ a forgivable mistake to expect all of this to be dirt simple–but really, as Matthew Ferry says, “Change is a planned conflict with the status quo.”  Write down three things that you’ll do when the going gets rough.  You have written down WHY you want to change, WHO you want to be, so make sure it’s work.
5. Results, not perfection.  Bill Phillips from Body For Life puts this in perspective.  You might be able to go through on a meteoric rise without a bad day, but when you have one bad day, you gotta shake it off.

Maybe you’re starting from a point where you can’t figure out what your goals are, what goals REALLY matter to you.  That happens.  And what I recommend is to set this as your priority for a week–or longer.  Have a silent room when you’re awake and alert.    Try and find out what things move you and motivate you.  Start journaling at Wordpress or LiveJournal or on paper.    Think about what you want to be  do and have. 

 Go forth and conquer.