Making Important Changes
Many of us want to make important changes in our lives, careers or businesses but we just don’t seem able to make it happen.
Others go through the motions of initiating change, but quickly fall back into an existing comfort zone, which judging from a wide variety of research doesn’t appear to be to “comfortable” for many of us. (The Gallup organization estimates that 71% of workers are not engaged – interested or fulfilled – in their career. Over 75% of new businesses struggle to succeed. Over 50% of couples are in risk of divorce. 47% of us are experiencing significant levels of stress in our lives, and most of us are far from the levels of health and fitness we desire.)
Clearly there are many important changes we could make to enrich our lives; we just don’t know how to do it.
Having helped thousands of people navigate past their resistance to achieve meaningful change, I can share a few insights into the process.
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Create Space – Change requires time, effort, attention and growth. If you are already running at 100% capacity, you will not have the time or energy needed. To effect change you need to first free up some space in your life. (Research from the field of Emotional Intelligence has clearly demonstrated that we cannot learn or grow well when we are under constant stress.)
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Get Clear On What Is Important To You – Many changes fail because what we are attempting to achieve is not really important to us. Before you invest in making a big change, take some time to get clear on what is really important to you. For example, you might think you want a promotion, but if that promotion will take you further away from your family, the promotion may not be in alignment with what you really value.
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Generate a Plan – Once you have a clear vision of what you are working towards, break it into smaller, more manageable stages and prioritize them. Don’t try to do too much all at once.
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Leverage Your Strengths – When you go about making changes, it is important to know what your strengths are, and build on them. Collectively we focus far too much energy on our weaknesses and shortcomings (which make us feel powerless) rather than focusing on the strengths and talents that empower us. For example, if you are starting a Business coach and are very strong in the strategic or big picture tasks, but mediocre at implementing, don’t focus all your energy on implementation. Develop a great strategic plan, and partner with people that are great at implementing.
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Keep Focused – It is the intensity and frequency of our attention that reinforces the new perspectives and thought patterns that support our new behaviors. Do not try to make major changes all by yourself. Create a strong support structure around you that will keep you on track and moving forward, past all the inevitable challenges.
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