I was taking a walk around the neighborhood earlier this week and encountered a mother with her young son. The boy had a fuzzy black caterpillar in his hand and was gently stroking it with his finger. He held the little creature up to his mom and exclaimed, “Look at him! Isn’t he cool?”

Seeing how enchanted the little boy was with his furry friend made me think about how we use the metamorphosis of caterpillar to butterfly as an analogy for personal growth and transformation. We all marvel at the delicate beauty of a butterfly – but the caterpillar phase has its own beauty – and it’s a necessary step before the butterfly emerges from the cocoon, spreads its wings and soars.

In fact, all of life’s stages deserve to be honored. As you grow and evolve, remember to be mindful of the precious present moment, and honor your past, because it’s made you who you are.

Step 1 – Be aware of the NOW:
In last week’s blog I talked about doing a personal inventory to assess your current situation. Understanding exactly where you are now and coming to terms with how you got there is a critical step to achieving real change.

Right now, you probably have goals that you are working toward. As you make your plans, ask yourself this important question – WHY? Why do you want to be a life coach? Why do you want to get married? Why do you want to go back to school?

Let your intuition guide you to the real reasons behind your aspirations. Maybe you want to get married to experience unconditional love or dream of being a life coach because you long to make a difference. Going back to school might be all about building structure and purpose back into your life.

Now think about small ways to incorporate what you’re striving for into the present. Want to make a difference? While studying to be a life coach, you can set aside time right now to help needy teens or feed the homeless. The work you do now will not only feed your soul, but help you achieve your transformation!

One more thing – starting right now, pay attention to the company you keep and surround yourself with like-minded individuals who support the very best you can be!

Step 2 – Benefit from the Patterns of your Past.
Do you keep experiencing the same things over and over? Looking back at key events in your life will help you to identify and break destructive cycles that you might have found yourself pulled into in the past. But be kind to your younger self – don’t judge yourself for past mistakes, honor the caterpillar phase and be grateful for lessons learned.

Step 3 – Visualize your dream future!
As you plan your future, have a roadmap of where you’d like to go and keep track of incremental progress. Create small, step by step goals and give yourself time to achieve them. Give yourself love and celebrate your victories!  Keep a journal and list out the positive qualities that got you this far and write down the steps that will take you to the next level.

As you work toward that big goal, make mindfulness your friend! How often have you gotten excited about a new project – writing a book or blog, learning a new skill, starting an exercise routine- only to have other obligations get in the way? Having a practice or routine of meditation is the perfect way to pull yourself back and remember your priories. 

Here’s a tip to keep to moving forward! Put a card with your goal in the form of a positive affirmation, or even a picture that represents where you want to be in the spot where you meditate and focus on that to set your intention.

The road might be winding, but you can keep moving forward!
Remember that your journey will have detours, roadblocks and delays. That’s life! Celebrate your successes and pay attention to how far you’ve come. Embrace your mistakes and lessons learned along the way. Use positive self-talk to keep yourself going. Remember that your thoughts are powerful, so use them to propel you forward and move you closer to your own personal metamorphosis.

I’ve just launched a free masterclass to help you on your journey to health, joy and success! You can access the first lessons here and awaken the beautiful butterfly within you!