Bright Consultancy

How to harness the power of incremental change

Remember that old joke that goes ‘How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time’? There’s an important nugget contained within it about the power of incremental change.

It can be easy to get overwhelmed when we are facing a complex task, a challenge, or a daunting change that we want to make. Sometimes we treat the elements of our lives like elephants – nothing but a sea of grey. I know that when I do this it is a sure fire way to make little or no progress towards my goals.

How does change really work in our lives? Often, when we think of change, we think of dramatic personal changes and turning points. In reality, the substantial changes are happening subtly all the time.

Are you the same size you were when you were 21? Welcome to the power of incremental change! If, like me, you’re somewhat bigger than you used to be, then you know that the weight was gained one ounce at a time.

Scarier still is the power of incremental non-change. I remember spending a long time in a job that wasn’t really the right fit for me. There was nothing wrong with the role itself – I just didn’t feel like it was right for me. Because I believed that changing my work would be uncomfortable, challenging, exhausting, and could potentially take a long time, I prevaricated and procrastinated…for almost 10 years. That’s the power of incremental non-change!

So how can we harness the power of incremental change, especially where ‘elephants’ are involved?

• Recognise the amazing power of daily habits. Our habits exist outside our conscious awareness, and they have a disproportionate effect on our results. This is particularly obvious in areas like our weight, which is the cumulative result of our eating habits over time.
• Commit to making one or two small changes to your habits. If, for example, you have the habit of avoiding a difficult issue, why not tackle it head on for just 10 minutes each day. Do that for long enough, and the elephant will get eaten.
• Consider how your habits can take you towards your goals. The Japanese concept of Kaizen (continuous improvement) is built upon this principle. What would be one daily habit that would move you towards your goal?
• Find a way to track your habits: include them on your to do list, stick post it notes in your calendar, use electronic reminders – anything that helps to keep you accountable to yourself.
• Hire a coach. We are the habit accountability specialists! Any good coach will help you define actions that you are willing to take, and will hold you accountable for taking those actions. This will give you motivation, and peace of mind that you are mastering your ‘elephants’.

I wish you luck!

Tags: Dealing with Change, ideas on motivation, Leadership Skills, making positive change, responding to resistance, self improvement, stimulation and motivation