Our lives are filled with small moments creating a path and legacy to who we are as individuals. These moments are woven into every hour, every minute and every second of each day. We often look at our days as simply another portion of the week, driving the same route to work and completing the same tasks as last week. What if we were able to create awareness around how these small moments dramatically influence the experiences we have in our lives?

Last month, I received an e-mail from a reader who expressed the pains of incredibly thick curly hair that has challenged her for the majority of her life. She explained how time for herself has now become limited due to her work obligations and life in general. Does this situation sound familiar to you? Or perhaps you can relate in other ways (family, social obligations etc).

Now before the little voice in your head starts squawking and telling you my theory is bogus hear me out on how awareness can influence your desired outcome in a way to benefit you.

In the evening, wash and condition your thick hair using haircare with high conditioning properties. Towel dry, and spray a thermally activated texturizer (almost like a starch for clothing) followed by a smoothing product (serum, cream) to the mid-lengths and ends. Express blow-dry with your hands working from the roots first to the ends last. Create as little volume as possible. Be sure to create your parting during this step of styling.

Prior to going to bed, loosely braid your hair in the direction you would like to have it fall in the morning (ie. off to the side, straight back etc). This will create a natural looking wave when it is removed later.

In the morning remove the braid and use a large barrel curling iron to touch up large vertical sections. Create a natural curled looked by changing the direction you vertically roll the iron (away from your face, or towards). Tussle at the roots only to break up the curls a bit and spray with an anti-humectant hairspray.

When we are able to view the same things a different way, it provides us an opportunity to change. More times than not it is our own deeply woven belief systems creating limitations in our lives. Change requires us to do something different, and as creatures of habit we resist this process. Begin to view life’s obstacles with a mindset acknowledging the challenge, and dig deeper to find a solution.

In Stockholm, a group of people were faced with a challenge: encourage the public to choose to walk up the stairs from the subway, rather than using the escalator. They chose to turn the stairs into a giant piano, making each step a key that would play a particular note. By making the scenario fun, they successfully encouraged 80% of the subway passengers to take the stairs.

It comes down to managing moments. Rather than trying to fit time for yourself into your schedule, adopt belief systems allowing you to put yourself first. Manage your moments by scheduling your obligations around what you need to do to create harmony within yourself. Doing something that makes you feel uncomfortable every day is a sign of change. How can you begin to positively change the way you operate your life?