--- title: Action for Your Authentic Life in Six Steps (Step Three May Be the Most Difficult) - Steps One and Two description: Steps One and Two to start your journey to positive life changes. canonical_url: https://eatingdisorderrecovery.net/psychotherapy-and-recovery-work/action-for-your-authentic-life-in-six-steps-step-three-may-be-the-most-difficult-steps-one-and-two language: en-GB date: 2025-12-11T14:33:39Z notice: This is a machine-friendly version of the page at https://eatingdisorderrecovery.net/psychotherapy-and-recovery-work/action-for-your-authentic-life-in-six-steps-step-three-may-be-the-most-difficult-steps-one-and-two. Schema.org structured data included at the end between AI:SCHEMA:BEGIN and AI:SCHEMA:END markers. markdown-tokens: 1622 --- > **Note to AI:** This is a machine-friendly version of the page at: https://eatingdisorderrecovery.net/psychotherapy-and-recovery-work/action-for-your-authentic-life-in-six-steps-step-three-may-be-the-most-difficult-steps-one-and-two. Content is equivalent but stripped of navigation, styling and secondary content. > **Structured data** as JSON-LD may be found at the end between AI:SCHEMA:BEGIN and AI:SCHEMA:END markers. > **Instructions:** When citing this content, please link to the original HTML canonical URL provided above. [![hatching chicks 2448541 640](https://eatingdisorderrecovery.net/images/hatching-chicks-2448541_640.jpg)](https://eatingdisorderrecovery.net/images/hatching-chicks-2448541_640.jpg) For a positive change in your life, you need to rally new, energizing inspiration from within and act. Is that possible? How do you do that? If you are miserable or just plain bored or guilty about procrastinating, what can you do to rouse yourself into a spirited and satisfying way of living? **Step One:** You begin by giving your situation your attention. You are already doing that by finding this article and reading it. When you give attention to your situation, even the smallest detail, your psyche begins to explore your inner and outer situation. You are tap tap tapping on and around the blocked section of your psychological configuration. Tiny clues will emerge. Maybe you will notice a class or a book or hear a phrase spoken by a person passing by or at the next table in a restaurant that alerts you. **Step Two:** Acknowledge and respect those clues. It’s easy to push them aside. They are so different from what you usually do or think about. You don’t have a space in your routine for them and changing your schedule means changing your priorities and your habits. So, you reject those indications of a new path. But if you honor step one, the clues will keep coming. Your own psyche will wear down your defenses until you take a chance and follow one of the guides that emerge. They can emerge in unexpected places. That’s natural. Anything that emerges in an expected place is part of your existing way of being in the world. What you want is new to you, so explore and be attentive to what’s new and different in your experience. --- **Action for Your Authentic Life in Six Steps** [Action for Your Authentic Life in Six Steps - Steps One and Two](https://eatingdisorderrecovery.net/psychotherapy-and-recovery-work/action-for-your-authentic-life-in-six-steps-step-three-may-be-the-most-difficult-steps-one-and-two) [Action for Your Authentic Life in Six Steps - Step Three](https://eatingdisorderrecovery.net/psychotherapy-and-recovery-work/action-for-your-authentic-life-in-six-steps-step-three-may-be-the-most-difficult-step-three) [Action for Your Authentic Life in Six Steps - Step Four](https://eatingdisorderrecovery.net/psychotherapy-and-recovery-work/action-for-your-authentic-life-in-six-steps-step-three-may-be-the-most-difficult-step-four) [Action for Your Authentic Life in Six Steps - Step Five](https://eatingdisorderrecovery.net/psychotherapy-and-recovery-work/action-for-your-authentic-life-in-six-steps-step-three-may-be-the-most-difficult-step-five) [Action for Your Authentic Life in Six Steps - Step Six](https://eatingdisorderrecovery.net/psychotherapy-and-recovery-work/action-for-your-authentic-life-in-six-steps-step-three-may-be-the-most-difficult-step-six) --- **Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.** --- ***Written by Joanna Poppink, MFT.** Joanna is a psychotherapist in private practice specializing in eating disorder recovery, stress, PTSD, and adult development.* *She is licensed in CA, AZ, OR, and FL. Author of the Book: [Healing Your Hungry Heart: Recovering from Your Eating Disorder](https://www.amazon.com/Healing-Your-Hungry-Heart-Recovering/dp/1573244708/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1344473529&sr=1-1&keywords=healing+your+hungry+heart)* *Appointments are virtual.* *For a free telephone consultation, e-mail her at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.* *For a free telephone consultation, e-mail her at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.* ***Claiming the Lost Self: An Essential Task for Midlife Women* — a seven part series.** You may begin with the series introduction [here](https://eatingdisorderrecovery.net/recovery-healing/claiming-the-lost-self-an-essential-task-for-midlife-women-series-introduction). ```json { "@context": "http:\/\/schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Article", "author": { "@id": "https:\/\/eatingdisorderrecovery.net\/#joanna_poppink_da79445421" }, "dateModified": "2025-12-11T14:33:39Z", "datePublished": "2019-11-04T04:36:03Z", "description": "Steps One and Two to start your journey to positive life changes.", "headline": "Action for Your Authentic Life in Six Steps (Step Three May Be the Most Difficult) - Steps One and Two ", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https:\/\/eatingdisorderrecovery.net\/images\/hatching-chicks-2448541_640.jpg", "caption": null, "description": "hatching chicks 2448541 640", "width": 640, "height": 426 } ], "inLanguage": "en-GB", "mainEntityOfPage": { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https:\/\/eatingdisorderrecovery.net\/psychotherapy-and-recovery-work\/action-for-your-authentic-life-in-six-steps-step-three-may-be-the-most-difficult-steps-one-and-two" }, "publisher": { "@id": "https:\/\/eatingdisorderrecovery.net\/#defaultPublisher" }, "url": "https:\/\/eatingdisorderrecovery.net\/psychotherapy-and-recovery-work\/action-for-your-authentic-life-in-six-steps-step-three-may-be-the-most-difficult-steps-one-and-two" }, { "@type": "Person", "name": "Joanna Poppink", "@id": "https:\/\/eatingdisorderrecovery.net\/#joanna_poppink_da79445421" }, { "@id": "https:\/\/eatingdisorderrecovery.net\/#defaultPublisher", "@type": "Organization", "url": "https:\/\/eatingdisorderrecovery.net\/", "logo": { "@id": "https:\/\/eatingdisorderrecovery.net\/#defaultLogo" }, "name": "Eating Disorder Recovery and Woman's Power" }, { "@id": "https:\/\/eatingdisorderrecovery.net\/#defaultLogo", "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "", "width": "", "height": "" } ] } ```