In this article I share my thoughts about how to sustain growth and become a better version of you.
Are you hearing bells yet? There will be a lot of people chanting, ‘Ring out the old and bring in the new. That’s the motto I am starting to hear with only a few days left to embrace this year.
It’s a similar pattern all over the world.
Let’s take a few minutes for a deeper look at what that means: Do we really want to ring out the old? And what is the new we all talk about?
Recently a client told me she was sick of seeing and hearing so many superficial comments about how to make the new year a great one. She said:
“Every year I make the same promises to myself. I promise to be more caring and kind- hearted at home and to be more of a cheerleader to my direct reports at work. And yet, by day 7 of the new year, I can feel myself falling backwards, into the old behaviors that I specifically want to change.
I think of myself as a boomerang. Not good!
What is the magic formula, or if not magic, at least a formula that will keep me on track for more than a few days?
And by the way, did I mention that I also want to lose a few pounds?
My question is: what can I do to sustain growth throughout the year and see really productive changes in 365 days?”
My response: We’ve all been there. Change is annoying, uncomfortable and often fearful. And, I believe, it is human nature to want to do better and be better. It’s in the how, that we slip and fall.
First, you need to get prepared. Louis Pasteur, you know the guy who invented the technique for treating milk and wine to stop bacterial contamination. His famous quote “Chance favors only the prepared mind” is one you can print out and put somewhere at home and at work.
There are way too many people and products on the market these days that promise instant transformation if you just do ‘this one thing.”
Won’t work over the long haul.
I suggest you begin the new year preparing for change. You can’t wish for the magic of change to happen until you figure out what patterns of behavior you keep repeating so you can break that frustrating cycle of pattern repetition.
Start by taking the Leadership Development Quiz to see which of the 13 most common patterns in the family and in the workplace have your name on them. Then comes the hard work to take the time to observe yourself without judging.
This is how the mind gets prepared for change and getting into a place where you can sustain growth.
I believe the process of deep, long term change begins with preparation. Think of it this way: prior preparation cuts the time to success in half. Take the opportunity at the beginning of the year to search inside yourself and observe before you make half baked promises to yourself that kid you into thinking you will have important changes handled in a week or two.
Research indicates that, at best, it takes 90 days for real change to lock in. So, by end of March you should be able to evaluate your progress with being able to sustain growth and become a better version of you .
My Pattern Aware Success Guide is surprise surprise, a 90 days program in an ebook, to help you sustain growth, make the changes you choose, like the woman above who wants to be more caring and kind-hearted at home and more of a cheerleader to her direct reports at work.
Check out the Pattern Aware Success Guide on Amazon.
And I have a special gift for all of you for the new year. It’s a copy of my webinar Give Change a Chance.
All you have to do is send me an email and it’s yours to help prepare you for what looks like a powerful roller coaster ride in 2019.
Here’s to being able to sustain growth and become a better version of you!
