Change Management: in your personal and business life

When talking about CHANGE, you tend to see two main reactions with people: love vs fear.

People who can not wait for change, as they have the drive for a better, new situation. They are open to whatever comes and have their mindset on a positive outcome. On the other hand, you see people who show fear. The anxiety of a negative outcome, the fear of losing certain securities in life, the uncertainty of the unknown. 

The more we know about how to encourage positive behaviour and change limiting behaviour in ourselves and others, the better we will meet our challenges. And, been able to change to what we aim for. In our personal and/or business life.

Here’s the bottom line: We are all creatures of habit. It takes real effort to alter the pathways those habits form in our brains, whether we’re talking about eating, listening, or remembering to floss our teeth. But those pathways have far more malleability than originally thought, meaning we can learn new and smarter ways of doing things at any age if we make the effort.

An example. My dentist told me that there was a better way of brushing my teeth with my electronic toothbrush than I had done so over the years. She explained and showed me how I could do it. 

I came home that afternoon and in the evening, I – of course – wanted to apply immediately that new technique. But, funny enough. It didn’t feel comfortable and almost as unreal, as my hand had to work in a different way. It took me more than 5 minutes to brush my teeth. The result was very splendid and I felt very positive, but it felt also very much like hard work. The next morning, it was as if my hand took me to my old way of brushing and I really had to be conscience of what I had to do and focusing on the positive outcome. I tell you, it took me more than a week, three times a day, of hard work (as I had to control my hand/arm) and conscience behaviour to change my old way of brushing my teeth to the new, better way of brushing. 

And, that is just brushing teeth. How about changing the way we work, the way we interact with each other on the work floor etc… that might take even more time, but there are a few tips, I can give you, which can make the progress much easier.

First, be positive. A positive mindset, where you feel trust in the outcome. By doing so, you signal your brain cells for a positive outcome.

Second, and very closely related to the first tip, you can feed change in people by giving them detailed feedback on what they’re doing well and how they can improve— but only if you frame it positively and deliver the feedback regularly. It’s healthier and far more effective to set a specific, forward-looking behavioural goal. By having this conversation frequently with e.g. employees, they will at a certain point reach out to colleagues as part of their routine—because they have rewired their brains to support it. 

A positive mindset with a concrete objective with regular feedback (become and stay conscience) in order to rewire your brain is the basis. However, and that brings me to the third element: “stay in shape.” Make sure you regularly exercise and have sufficient sleep and eat healthy. These components are a necessity to energise your body and mind for effective actions and change in your life. Not just in your personal life, but also in your professional life. 

Warren Buffet said it like this: pick one car, you really love and imagine you having that car….. if I tell you, you have that car for the rest of your life, you will have to take good care of it. Don’t you?  Well, that’s the case with your body. So, make sure you take good care of it  … as you have only one for a lifetime. 

Step in the unknown.. and make the change. It will take some or maybe a lot of effort, but you will be rewarded.