Often there is a gulf between our desire to change something in life and concrete steps. Sometimes it seems irresistible. We seem to be ripe for change, but again and again we put it off until later – at the beginning of the next week, month, year. Perhaps the whole point is the lack of a clear, understandable algorithm that we could follow.
Monday morning is the perfect time to start a new project. But it seems that this is not the first time you have made a promise to yourself to do something, to refuse something, to achieve something. And even it turns out to hold on for several days, but suddenly objective circumstances happen. The project fails again.
Then, most likely, reflection is turned on. You start asking questions:
- Why is it so difficult to initiate change?
- How to take action and not give up halfway?
- Where to start?
These questions are being pondered not only by you and me, but also by psychologists and sociologists. Management theorist Richard Beckhard developed a formula describing the conditions under which change occurs. It looks like this:
N*V*KSh>PP, where:
N – dissatisfaction with the current state or situation,
B – vision of the desired future state or situation,
KSh – concrete steps towards this vision,
PP – current opposition to change, that is, the desire to leave everything as it was.
In order for you to have the strength to stay on track and implement changes in your life, you need three components. First, you need to understand as clearly as possible why you no longer want to leave everything as it is, what exactly you want to change and why this is important to you.
It is quite comfortable at the starting point, and leaving it is fraught with stress and the likelihood of failure – like, for example, it was last time
Secondly, you need to write down your vision of the desired future in as much detail as possible. You can celebrate not only specific changes affecting you personally, but also what will happen to your immediate environment when the vision becomes a reality. The more clearly and colorfully you imagine a picture of the future, the easier it will be to resist difficulties.
Finally, it remains to take concrete steps – clear actions, scheduled for the entire path of movement towards the goal. The simpler and more specific the steps, especially at the beginning, the easier it is to do them, even if there are obstacles along the way.
Unfortunately, resistance to change is a rather strong factor. It is caused by emotional reactions of the brain. The emotional brain is trying to “reason” us, based on previous negative experiences. Most likely, you will constantly have thoughts about quitting everything: stop doing such thankless things as self-development, the fight against excess weight, and the search for new ways to realize yourself in the profession. It is quite comfortable at the starting point, and leaving it is fraught with stress and the likelihood of failure – as, for example, it was last time.
If all this happens to you for the first time and there is no experience of failure, the emotional brain will focus on the negative experience of other people. Yes, and circumstances may not develop in the best way, which once again indicates the futility of actions. As a result, once again hands down.
The most powerful charge for change occurs only when everything converges in the first part of the formula: all quantities “act” together. The higher the reluctance to stay at the starting point, the clearer the vision of where we want to be in the future, and the smaller and simpler the specific steps, the more likely we are to master this path. Only in this case, the desire to be where you really want to win over the desire to return to your usual way of life and “not rock the boat” in order to avoid problems.
On the path of change, you will be supported by dissatisfaction with the current state and a vision of a desired future.
What does it look like in practice? You can no longer be at your current job – for example, because you are not satisfied with the salary. You did everything in your power to change the situation, but it didn’t work. Now it seems to you that the only way out is to change jobs.
You see your professional future as follows: the position of an accountant in a large holding, salary – n thousand rubles. To achieve this goal, you need to take the following steps:
- create an account on job search sites,
- study offers of employers,
- analyze your experience and education, if necessary, improve your qualifications,
- create a competitive resume.
As you take these steps, dissatisfaction with the current state and a vision of a desired future will keep you on the path to change.
Beckhard created the formula to describe the conditions under which changes occur in organizations, but it can be used to change something in career, personal development, and even relationships.
Now that you’ve learned a powerful formula for change, consider: what project are you ready to implement? Why are these changes necessary and important to you? What does your future look like? What are you willing to do in the next 24 hours to get started on this journey?
About the Developer
Elena Chernysh – corporate training specialist on Instagram.