The astronauts on Apollo 13 were in serious trouble. Their craft was profoundly wounded by an explosion and hurtling through space at 25,000 miles per hour. They were going to miss returning to earth by 40,000 miles, sailing off forever into the void of space. Their only hope of survival was a precise mid-course correction. Amazingly, by working together with the Flight Director and his team of experts at mission control, they managed that course correction with stunning precision, saving their lives.

So, what was that mid-course correction? It must have been pretty massive to get the Apollo 13 back on course, considering it was 40,000 miles or 64,000 km off course. Surprisingly, not! It was just a few short blasts on rockets on one side of the spacecraft that shifted its direction a few degrees that did the job. Just a seemingly minute shift, created a miraculous outcome. It is this shift that is available to all of us at any time, and will radically – just as happened with Apollo 13 – change the destination we are headed.

You can make shift happen in any area of your life and it will, over time, create just as incredible a result as the one achieved by the famous spacecraft. My shift story happened this week. As I have written about before, my beautiful fluffy daughter, now in her fourteenth year, has had some serious health challenges this year. She has steadily declined to the point that I was starting to lose hope. She was not eating well, rarely pooping, and getting weaker by the day. My heart was slowly breaking as I was trying to imagine life without her to come home to, snuggle with, and enjoy her quirky behaviour.

My attitude was shitty, my mood was flagging, and my actions, to be honest, were pathetic. I definitely needed to make a shift happen. I slapped myself, metaphorically speaking that is, and gave myself a good talking to. I knew she was responding to me and my feelings, so I needed to make a mid-course correction. The first shift was to change my thinking, then treat and talk to her as if she were healthy. The second shift was one simple action. She had vitamins sitting in a container on the bench and nutrient powders sitting in the fridge. I thought to myself, they are helping no-one in the container. So, I resolved to put nutrients into her little body every day.

I crushed the chewable tablet she didn’t like eating into a fine powder, I added the other powders from the fridge and stirred them all in together. Then I grabbed Joia, and even though she hated it, resisted it, and tried to get away from me, I placed the powder in her mouth, on her tongue and gums until she had taken it all. Well, most of it anyway, as she was trying very hard to spit it out. Afterwards, she had red lips from the beetroot powder, but those nutrients were in her body and doing good.

Would you believe it? That same day, her energy was better, she ate more, and she did a great poop. I am sure you are glad I am telling you about her bowel activity. Sorry! I have done this every day since, and that one little shift has had an amazing impact on her, and me. That’s the power of the shift. There is a great saying that goes, when you change how you look at things, the things you look at change. It’s just a shift. Two questions for you. What do you want to change in your life? What simple shift can you make happen that will have the greatest impact on that change?

Do you want more energy? Could you make the shift eating breakfast each day? Do you want a stronger relationship? Would you be willing to make the shift to giving sincere encouragement or compliments each day? Want more business growth? What if the shift was a simple as making one extra call per day? Want to feel more joy in your life? Could you make the shift writing a short gratitude list each day? Can you see how just a small mid-course correction can have a significant impact on your direction in life?

What if the shift you made was saying yes, and, instead of yes, but? I had a wonderful podcast conversation with Simone de Haas called Yes, and. Just this small shift in language can open up incredible creativity and possibilities in life. You see, you don’t have to settle for a life you don’t love. In fact, an incredible life is waiting for you, and it is just one small shift away. Make shift happen this week.