Change often involves learning how to do an activity in a new way. Sometimes, the method is new; at other times, it’s just your mindset. In the book Influencer: The Power to Change Anything, the five authors examine people who have helped to create great change in the world. Their 10 tips are as follows:
1. Observe others who successfully do what you want to do.
2. Identify, list, and learn the exact behaviors they do that create the change you want to experience. Perhaps this needs to be part of your quarterly plan. Specifically identify which are the few vital behaviors needed to make change last.
3. Be with other people at the exact moment they’re demonstrating a vital behavior so you step into the energy of the experience and learn from their successes and failures. Personal experience is the great convincer.
4. Many thoughts are incomplete or inaccurate and lead to people erroneously choosing behaviors based on what they think will happen, which limits what’s possible because people believe in and see only a small number of possible solutions.
5. Whatever change you want to create, everyone involved must believe it will be worth it and believe he or she can do what is required, which is why identifying and listing the essential behaviors are important. Knowing what you must do might help you believe you can do it and relieve any fearful feelings of change as an ”unknown.”
6. When change happens, you’ll be in what’s termed the “flow” state, a feeling of enjoyment and of losing yourself in an activity. Almost any activity can be this engaging if it involves clear, frequent feedback and challenging goals.
7. When we experience mental and emotional stress, we often act against our values and principles, shifting our focus to the details and forgetting the big picture. We might become paralyzed; therefore, one key to change is to maintain a lifestyle where stress is a challenge, but not overwhelming.
8. We are each born with the right stuff; often, we just haven’t figured out how to get it to work for us. Seek those people who have, and learn from them.
9. When a vital behavior requires several people to work in concert, you must develop people’s ability to work as a team. When this is not done, leaders are typically disappointed with the lack of influence. When change is challenging, changing, or novel, several heads are better than one.
10. The physical, mental, and emotional environment around us affects much of what we do, and yet, we often fail to notice its profound impact. How can you change your environment to make it more conducive to the change you want to see?
