BMA's Change Management Articles, Vol. I by Ismael D. Tabije - HTML preview

6 Signposts for a Successful Journey

David Krueger MD

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How does change occur?

Change is not simple. Why do we repeat behavior that doesn't work? Those actions that lead to stifling debt, disappointing careers, or stuck relationships? Then do it harder, yet expect a different result? Why is it not obvious that trying to exit an old story by simply writing a “better ending” only recreates the same story, and ensures that we remain in it? That a thousand better endings to an old story don't create a new story? That the past cannot be changed and is a settled matter? That too often, we see ourselves as the victims of these life stories of ours, and overlook the fact that we author them, and create the feelings?

To simply stop doing something is not complete change. Abstaining from an old story—stuckness or compromising repetitions, just like abstaining from excessive drinking or eating—is a beginning. A new lived experience is required, one that you repeat until it creates new circuits and neuronal networks in your brain.

We are not hard-wired for life. To create new experiences changes neuronal pathways and networks in the brain, transforms neurotransmitters, and even alters gene expression. New choreography in the ballet at the synaptic cleft alters brain structure along with function: when we change our minds, we change our brains. Neuroscience validates how powerful creating a new story is.

How can we facilitate change?

We can foster change by conscious practices and effective tools. An infinite sea of new patterns and possibilities can be created to further new goals. The caveat: You have to take action to diminish preprogrammed responses and to write new script for new experiences—a new story has to replace the old one. There are no short cuts, since long term change requires consistent practice to groove new neural pathways and establish new neuronal networks. But there are effective and efficient methods to accelerate optimum change and insure transformation.
Identify the Signposts

In each successful journey, there are identifiable markers.

 

1. Precisely specify the goal and agenda.

Clarify your agenda so that it is clear, specific, and simple. If the goal is not clear, the agenda and strategy cannot be precise. Be very specific about a goal —e.g., “getting fit” is not a goal but an outcome. Maintain focus on a specific issue until you have clarity. If there is no focus on an agenda, there can be no effectiveness or success.

2. Determine what needs to happen.

 

Identify what you need to do to further the goal of your agenda. This clarity will catalyze an approach to the needed steps.

For example, if you feel overwhelmed at work with the amount of tasks, clarify one issue that can be dealt with effectively within the next day. This focus on a specific action exercises effectiveness and initiates a model of mastery for the next step.

3. Convert obstacles into intentions.

Internal obstacles such as fear or doubt that may seem to “stop” you are personal creations. Convert a fear or obstacle into an intention, with a commitment to a next best action. For example, if you are afraid of public speaking, an intention might be to join Toastmasters.

4. Highlight the solutions.

 

When you form a plan and immerse yourself in the process, problems dissolve into the possibilities.

 

5. Facilitate internal change and external change.

With a new experience, anxiety and trepidation are expectable. You are in new territory, without familiar landmarks. When you are in your integrity in this new experience, feeling anxious or uncertainty is a signpost of progress, as opposed to a signal of danger as in the old story.
6. Follow-up.

Continue to focus on your goals and strategies. What works and what doesn't are both important. Writing your next chapter is about looking at what happens next, and considering what happens after what happens next.

Remember: the usual problem is not setting goals but completing them.

 

Continue Assessment

 

An ongoing assessment of progress—of evaluating each of the major storylines in your life and business stories—involves these basic four questions:

 

1. What do you want to change?

If there is a problem, barrier, or obstacle, it is not a simple matter of getting over it, countering, or adapting to it: It is not there until you create it. Consider creating something else instead. For example, convert a fear of public speaking into an intention with a specific commitment.

2. What do you want to let go?

The bottom line, no matter how entrenched the process or strong the hope, is "Does it work?" Emotionally, it is not so easy to let go of a hope without it being fulfilled—such as trying to get someone to respond in just the right way?

3. What do you want to avoid?

There is always the pull of the old and the fear of the new. Yet there is no future in repetition. For example, to avoid engagement with someone who is draining protects your energy for a more productive choice.

4. What do you want to keep and enhance?

 

Your life is the manifestation of your beliefs.

 

Choose carefully what you engage in.

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About the Author :
David Krueger, M.D. an Executive and Mentor Coach. He is CEO of MentorPath, an executive coaching firm tailored to the needs of executives and professionals. Dr. Krueger is author of 12 books on success, money, work, and mind-body integration. www.MentorPath.com Sign up for his quarterly newsletter and receive a free white paper: YOUR SUCCESS MAP

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