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To initiate a period of growth, create a new set of habits
August 2010 |
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A Story
Andy felt stuck. He had grown his organization to its current level but did not know how to break through to a higher level of productivity and success. His coach invited him to change 3 things: 1) remove the "trophies" from his office, leaving some empty space, 2) stop eating lunch in the same place every day; try out some new restaurants and invite people he didn't know very well to join him, and 3) avoid meetings before 9:00 am; use 8:30 to 9:00 for reflective thinking to prepare for the work day. Within 2 weeks, Andy felt a shift in his energy level. Within 2 months, he had landed a new project that revitalized the organization and gave him greater career satisfaction.
Your Assignment:
Reflect on your current routine. Identify habits that do not serve you anymore, that keep you tied to your current level of performance. Write down a new set of behaviors to practice daily or weekly to break this pattern. Take the time to say goodbye to your "old" routine with a sense of gratitude for the contribution to your past success.
Questions:
- What fixed patterns of behavior are limiting your capacity for growth? What habits do you defend as being part of you when they really inhibit you? What behaviors have taken on the form of a ritual? To what degree do those rituals serve you and others? To what degree do they hold you back?
- What new habits could you form to take the place of the outdated ones?
- What loss will you experience by adopting a new set of behaviors? How will you cope with this loss? What can you hope to gain?
Copyright 2010 Forward Focus
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