The Georgia sun is brutal on the exterior finish of a house, and I was tired of incurring the cost to have the wood refinished on our front doors.  If marine coating couldn’t extend the life of the doors, nothing would withstand the continual beating our doors took from the sun.  Refinishing was an expensive, and recurring cost every two years, and soon there wouldn’t be a layer of wood to refinish at all. 

I did what any do-it-yourselfer would attempt – which was to paint the doors.  My thought is always to first try myself and see what happens.  I can always go out and buy new doors.  The first step was picking out a color, sounds easy but there are so many different shades of green to select from.  Once we narrowed it down and bought the paint, then it was a waiting game.  Georgia, like the rest of the country, was experiencing rain – days and days of rain. 

The time I spent waiting I was prepping the door – washing, sanding and taping.  If you skip the prep work, your end result will not be as expected.   I was taught to paint by my grandfather and he was meticulous in his approach.  When I try to rush and not tape the glass – I’m scraping off the paint later. 

Finally the rain stopped long enough for me to start painting.  I wish I had taken a before picture because the result was amazing.  You would not know that these doors looked old and beaten down a day before.  Paint can give new life to old doors – but can fixing your outside fix your results?

Trying to change your current results cannot be changed by slapping a coat of paint on – it comes from the inside.  The door is still wood, but the paint added to the longevity.  But we can’t rely on an external change.  We have to alter our paradigms – the habits that keep us doing the same action.  The next time you think a new pair of shoes is exactly what you need, stop and think – when was the last time you worked on improving you – from the INSIDE?

Luckily, we can change from the inside out – but first we must understand why we have certain beliefs.  Some of our beliefs we don’t even know how they got programmed in our subconscious mind.  Here’s an easy way to understand – if I asked you to repeat some of the statements your parents made to you as a young child, we would come up with ones like: “Money doesn’t grow on trees.  Close the door – were you born in a barn?  Eat your food, there are starving children in India.  No – because I said so.  We don’t have a money tree out back.”  I could probably go on and on, these were some of the things I heard.

But we also had teachers, bosses, friends, peers – also put things into our subconscious mind.  I was told I was good in science and math – so of course I focused on that.  But I also discovered I was great at journalism, which then caused me to question why was I majoring in nuclear medicine (really – WHY?).  The great part is I was also curious and loved to read – books that challenged me to consider that I could change just because I wanted to.

Now that you know that change from the inside is possible – what would you want to start changing in your life now?  More money, more clients, a better relationship, more vacations? – anything is possible but you have to believe it.