Tag Archives: change

Progress is a nice word

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“Progress is a nice word. But change is its motivator, and change has its enemies.”

—Robert F. Kennedy, 64th Attorney General of the United States of America

Immunity to Change book cover

Image from Amazon

Change or die.

What if you were given that choice?

For real.

What if it weren’t just rhetoric that confuses corporate performance, or life success in general, with life or death?

What if your physician said you had to make tough changes to the way you think and act, or your time would end soon?

Could you change?

The scientific studies in Alan Deutschman’s 2005 Fast Company article puts the odds at nine-to-one. That’s nine-to-one against you.

Progress involves leaving where you are to go to a better place ahead. It is a nice word, and does not appear to have much drama. It does, however, still involve change, and there are forces/enemies that slow it down or stop it on many occasions.

EXERCISE:

Consider checking out the Fast Company article, or look into the book Immunity to Change by Robert Kegan and Lisa Kaskow Lahey for greater insights into this fascinating topic.

The first step towards getting somewhere

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“The first step towards getting somewhere is to decide that you are not going to stay where you are.”

—J. Pierpont Morgan, 19th Century American Banker

Image of a hand with a large bandaid on the palm

Image from Unsplash by Brian Patrick Tagalog

Pain and pleasure are two of the greatest motivators to mobilize us all to take action. Whether it involves jerking our hand away from a hot stove or pursing our dreams, we get going pretty quickly.

For some reason, pain or negative life situations often win the battle over our desires, making less of an undesirable situation preferable to more of a good one.

Whatever your own experience may be on this issue, please look around at your personal and professional worlds to examine where staying where you are is completely unacceptable.

EXERCISE:

Decide today what first step you promise yourself to take to move away from the pain of being stuck where you are, to a better and perhaps more pleasurable future. Consider doing this exercise on a weekly basis and feel free to get back with me regarding your results.

Be yourself and the right people will love you

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“Don’t change so people will like you. Be yourself and the right people will love you.”

—Author Unknown

Image of a smart phone showing no signal

Image from Wilson Amplifers

Did you know that in 2016 cell phone usage around the world was estimated at 62.9%? This number is expected to grow to almost 70% by 2019, when more than five billion people will be using them.

The numerous companies fighting for their share of this market all claim the best signals, widest coverage, and fastest speeds to attract more customers.

How often have you found yourself in a dead zone, with dropped calls and few or no bars on your screen? When that happens, most of us simply change our position, driving a bit further until we get back into signal range.

EXERCISE:

Instead of trying to connect with others by changing yourself, how could you boost your own authentic and powerful signal to attract the people who will love you?

Leave the familiar

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“Leave the familiar for a while. Change rooms in your mind for a day.”

—Hafiz, 14th Century Persian Poet

Image of a small boy walking on the beach

Image from Unsplash by Andre Mohamed

One of my favorite quotes is, “When patterns are broken, new worlds will emerge,” by Tuli Kupferberg. In a nutshell, it points to a primary reason the coaching process works to support all kinds of professional and personal change initiatives.

Unfortunately, this can be quite difficult due to entrenched ways of thinking and acting that have become habituated over many years.

The good news, supported through today’s quote, is that we all can begin to grow and change by taking baby steps rather than quantum leaps, to better our worlds.

EXERCISE:

Experiment today by intentionally deviating from the familiar in your thoughts and actions. Please consider replying to this post regarding what occurs when you change things up a bit.

Speak with love and compassion

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“Speak to people with love and compassion, and you have the ability to create change in them.”

—Matt Valentine, founder of Buddhaimonia

Image of hands holding a map

Photo by Daniil Silantev on Unsplash

I feel very honored to be a business and personal coach. To kick-start each new relationship, I spend an entire day with my new client. This helps us establish a trusting and supportive partnership.

The level of transparency, openness, and connection that develops over time is often significant and meaningful to myself and to my clients.

There is very often a sincere caring and compassionate connection which mobilizes most clients to break habits and behavioral patterns to realize many sustainable changes they seek.

EXERCISE:

How and where can you bring greater love and compassion to selected people in your communities, to enhance their ability to create lasting positive change in their lives?

Tomorrow Hopes We Have Learned Something from Yesterday

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“Tomorrow hopes we have learned something from yesterday.”

—John Wayne, American film icon

Image of Past Present Future on a timeline

Image from SpaceSys

When you settle under the covers and reflect on your day, what factors bring you satisfaction and put a smile on your face? What represents a day well spent to you?

Most people would say learning something new, and making a positive contribution are keys to living a meaningful life.

EXERCISE:

What do you intend to learn and contribute today, to make for a much brighter tomorrow?

Make Sense Out of Change

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“Make sense out of change by plunging into it, moving with it, and joining in the dance.”

—Author Unknown

Image of boy diving from a boat

Image from Lakehouse Lifestyle

As we move through the stages of adult life, most of us become a bit more set in our ways. There is nothing particularly wrong with that. We often find comfort in our rituals, habits, and routines.

Without a direct invitation from us, however, the world increasingly knocks or, in some cases, pounds on our doors, bringing all kinds of change into our personal and professional worlds.

What if, instead of bolting our doors or barricading ourselves into our comfortable worlds, we opened ourselves to more opportunities and adventures by moving, plunging and dancing with these changes?

EXERCISE:

Where would a more open, welcoming, “try it on” approach to the changes around you make the biggest, most positive difference? Consider opening this door, or better yet, stepping right out there and joining the dance!

The Empire of Habit

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“Powerful indeed is the Empire of Habit.”

—Publilius Syrus, ancient Syrian writer 42 BCE

Image of "Small Move, Big Change" book Cover

I wonder if Publilius Syrus was an influence in the creation of Yoda in the Star Wars series. Today’s quote sure sounds like a Yoda-ism!

Take a moment to examine your personal and professional empires. How satisfied, fulfilled, and generally happy are you in regards to what you have built through your daily habits?

How are things looking regarding your health, relationships, career, finances, community engagement, and spiritual pursuits?

If you are falling short of the mark, examine your current habits, which are the key to over 90% of our lives.

EXERCISE:

Daily microresolutions can help set you on a more successful course. You can learn about microresolutions through the work of Caroline Arnold and her book, Small Move, Big Change.

I Alone Cannot Change the World

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“I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.”

—Mother Theresa

Image of ripple in a pond

Image from clipartfest

The world is a pretty big place, and we are each but one of over seven billion passengers on this beautiful blue marble.

Given this perspective, it is common for most of us, on many occasions, to feel small, limited, and maybe somewhat insignificant. Who am I, or who are we, as individuals, to make a lasting and significant change or difference? Yet that is exactly what we do each day in our families, our neighborhoods, our workplaces, and our extended communities.

EXERCISE:

How can and will you create more positive ripples in your communities in the future?

The Right Path is Not the Easiest

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“Sometimes the right path is not the easiest one.”

—Grandmother Willow, in Disney’s Pocahontas

Image of Pocahontas with Grandmother Willow

Image from The Disney Diva

Take a few minutes to go back in time to your high school and college years.

Identify the teacher and the course that made the biggest difference.

I’ll bet that in many cases the lessons learned or the impact gained still influences your life today.

What was the level of effort required to excel and achieve the benefits?

How significantly were you challenged to go beyond the path of least resistance and conventional thinking, to reap the reward you experience to this day?

EXERCISE:

Where in your personal or professional world are you taking the easy path that just doesn’t feel right?

Where would summoning your courage, boldness, persistence, and tenacity on a path you know is right make all the difference to your future success and happiness?