The Formula for Change
How many of us are excited for what 2017 will bring? I suspect like many, you’re setting goals and planning on bigger and better things for your career and your personal life as well. Today I want to share the formula for change! I cannot take credit for this formula. I learned this from my ActionCOACH mentors.
ActionCOACH is a global business coaching franchise. They help you go from here to there. It’s all about growth and development, but action is necessary to get the results you want. I hope that gets you as fired up as it gets me! If you don’t have a mentor and/or accountability in your life, specifically for your business, I would highly encourage you to consider hiring one. My mentor has dramatically changed my life for the better, with an emphasis on my career. And to shamelessly plug Beyond The Technique, you know we do offer this service! And it’s custom to our industry. Bonus! Check out our services page to learn all of our options.
I learned the change formula from them and today I want to share it with you. I think that when you finally understand what it takes to change and you acknowledge what it means to have all of these tools for change, you can finally implement change into your life. But are you ready for change? I think that in today’s society, the easier you can adapt to change the quicker you can find the success you’re looking for. Your willingness to change will be transformative for your future successes.
If you are someone who really likes a methodical pace to life, this might be a very big challenge for you. To progress in your career and have great success, I think it’s incredibly beneficial to be adaptable to change, because there is no constant in life. We’ve all heard the saying, “The only constant is change.” So, I want to know, are you ready to change in a positive direction?
The Formula
The formula of change is this, [D x V] + F > R
What does that mean?
‘D’ stands for dissatisfaction, the ‘V’ is your vision. ‘F’ are your first steps and ‘R’ stands for your resistance.
What this means is your dissatisfaction times your vision, plus your first steps has to be greater than your resistance if you want to change.
Here’s my personal example: Many of you already know that I’ve struggled with weight my entire life. I’m entering into an adult phase of my life where it’s new to me to have such a healthy lifestyle. With this challenge and change, my level of dissatisfaction had to be greater than my resistance. However, I also had to have a vision. I had to believe that change was possible, that I actually could live differently, and that I actually could get to a certain point. The vision had to be there. I had to believe and see what the future could bring.
I also had to have some first steps prepared, and for a while I had no idea where to begin. Eventually, I decided that my first steps would be to join a support group for people who struggle with food and to create a fitness plan. Those elements had to be greater than my resistance for change. When we get in that hamster wheel, it’s easy to stay there because eventually we become very comfortable with the same old thing. We accept the way we are.
But the moments when we become dissatisfied and say, “What am I doing? I don’t want this.” are so important. Those moments have to be greater than your resistance. You need to have a vision and decide on your first steps.
Do you need to have the fifteenth step planned out from the very beginning? No. Those future steps can be flexible because they may change as you do. Really, the first steps determine the third, fourth and fifth steps, so don’t overthink it! You don’t have to know the end game to begin. You don’t play basketball knowing you’re going to win the game. You believe it, you have the vision, but you have to start by taking the first step. You just have to start playing the game.
Your level of dissatisfaction needs to be high-- you have to be dissatisfied with where you are. And then you have to add that vision, add the first steps and you’re on your way to change.
Is your dissatisfaction level high?
The following is a professional example.
I have stylists that are extremely loyal to my salon. They love working, they’re hard workers, and they go out of their way to put in extra effort. We have weekly team meetings. We have bi-monthly advanced education on top of our weekly team meetings. We serve more brides in our community than any other salon, so many in fact, that we’ve been able to charge more than double the price of competitors in our area.
Long story short, my team is phenomenal and incredibly talented. But at some point I realized that I was not willing to change my structure for them to have time off or to work less. I had fear, which we’ve identified in previous talks as being false expectations appearing real. My fear was if I let them work less they may not treat this like their career. My fear was they’d look at it as more of a hobby and take their careers less serious. I was afraid that they wouldn’t care as much anymore and they would only participate part-time. They wouldn’t have any real accountability to their careers.
For years that fear kept me from changing my full-time protocol. It was like, “you’re all in or you’re out.” And this is such a reflection on me as a person, because as leaders we tend to implement what we think is best for us, and I’m definitely that person. I’m all in or I’m all out.
But I realized that I wanted to grow bigger at a second and third location. So I needed to decide if it was feasible for me to have professionals who were full-time or if it was more realistic to be accommodating and flexible. Eventually I decided I needed to change my outlook on this part-time option for them.
Previously, I’ve lost some really great employees and team players because they also thought the policy was “all or nothing” because that’s what their leader put out there to them. There wasn’t any animosity in their leaving; we still care deeply for each other. But, I lost employees that I was very sad to say goodbye to. I did lose these great people because I was just so rigid and stuck in my ways.
Finally, after losing two top performers because I didn’t have any other option for them, my dissatisfaction level was at an all-time high. So I had to take a firm look and decide what I would rather have. Do I need to have everyone be full-time? Or can I be more flexible?
I revised my vision. It now works for people who do have families and want to work part-time :)
First Steps and Moving Forward
The first step for me was to sit down and create an action plan of what the outcome would look like and how I’d get there. After that I met with the managers of our hair salon--these are the leaders that help to implement all changes. We met, discussed our outcomes, and realized how great the change was. We now have options for both full-time and part-time and it doesn’t feel like those options are prohibiting anyone from being their best when they’re involved. You can work part-time and you can still participate; it’s a real, full-time career even though you’re here for a minimum of three days.
We offered this to the team and told them about what an amazing opportunity it was, and they were so happy to have more options. It was a win for everyone.
The underlying message here is that as a leader, you have to look within. If things aren’t working out your way, maybe you’re being too resistant to change. If you’re not getting what you want or need, ask yourself what you can do to change. That way you can ultimately have the life you desire.
Share with me on social what changes you’ll be making this year! And if you haven’t already, please join our private Beyond The Technique Group page! This is a safe place to share ideas, questions, and challenges with other professionals across the US. Cheers to a great year ahead!