When we discover something new about ourselves, or we unlock a new level of happiness, there’s often a moment where everything we’ve been questioning suddenly unfolds into endless answers and possibilities. It feels a little euphoric. Like, why didn’t I figure this out years ago?

In 2018, I had one of those moments. I was finally working for myself full-time, addicted to the freedom of it. My mind was wide open, I was learning new things and reshaping old beliefs. I felt empowered. For the first time in my life, I felt like I could actually do anything.

What I didn’t expect was what came next. I wanted everyone I knew to feel the same thing I did. So I started sharing it, with friends, colleagues, family. I told them what I was learning. How it was changing me. I thought they’d quit their jobs, launch the business of their dreams, reinvent their lives overnight. Instead, most of them just smiled. Some looked amused. A few looked confused.

Where I saw the secrets of life, they were still focused on survival. And looking back, I get it.

It’s a pretty well-documented trait of being human. We won’t change until the pain of staying the same becomes greater than the pain of changing.

Someone once called what I experienced a spiritual awakening. That term has baggage, and it doesn’t really fit my beliefs, but it’s what they called it. And I don’t feel the need to rewrite the language just to make it more comfortable now.

What I do know is this. I was expecting people to upend their lives just because I told them to. I may have been spiritually awakened, but I was no less naive.

People don’t change because you want them to. They change when they’re ready. Or when life gives them no other choice.