The first and greatest barrier to change in any area of your life is pride. Pride keeps you from being honest about the areas where you need to change.

But, the fact is, we all need to change. Nobody has it all together. I don’t have it all together. You don’t have it all together. The person you admire most in the world doesn’t have it all together.

The Bible says there’s nothing perfect on Earth except God’s Word. Everything on this planet is broken because of sin. But we all walk around trying to impress people. We pretend that we’ve got it all together.

If you want to have lasting change in your life, though, then you first have to humbly assess your current state—which includes admitting that you don’t have it all together. You have to put aside your pride and admit you have a problem with your finances, your health, or whatever area you struggle with in your life.

Romans 12:3 says, “Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you” (NIV).

Sometimes, though, you can’t see yourself accurately without help from others. Do you have the courage to ask other people to be honest with you? Are you willing to ask the people closest to you, “Where do I need to change?”

Why is it so important to see yourself accurately? Because you can only manage what you measure.

If you don’t know the measure of your faith, you can’t grow in your faith. If you don’t know the measure of your health, you can’t develop and grow in health. If you don’t know the measure of where you are financially, you can’t set goals financially. If you don’t know the measure of where you are spiritually or vocationally or relationally, then you can’t grow in those areas. You can only manage what you measure.

Are you ready for real life change? Then, first, set aside your pride and take an accurate measure of where you are today. Only then will you be able to see the areas where you need to grow.