Sunday, January 6, 2008

Achieving Successful Change: The Importance of Diligence

I MET A FRIEND recently and I was surprised to see him adorned in open shoes, but otherwise dressed for business. When I enquired about it he proceeded to tell me of the blisters he'd been battling with—blisters from running. He had developed the blisters as a result of either poor footwear, excessive running, or for some other reason. One thing was for sure, he was sore, and what was worse he’d been forced to stop his emergent fitness regime.
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I got to thinking that my friend doesn't normally run, or at least it isn't characteristic of his routine. Then I got to thinking, 'Is this from an over-eager desire to implement change?'—to get fit, and in “getting fit” had he not sufficiently attended to the delicate balance required in the physical transition from being largely sedentary to becoming more active.
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This sort of thing happened for me recently also. Returning to weight training with the availability of a gym where I work was great; I love to work out. The only trouble was an ‘old war wound’ within my once-strong but now frail lumbar spine re-surfaced and I’ve had to back off somewhat.
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It highlights the golden truth that getting fit is harder to get right than one might think. The degree of success of any change often depends on its sustainability over the initial months of implementation. If we last longer than a few months, we normally adapt and then continue the new habit, in this case the habit of exercise.
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There’re many things that potentially de-rail our efforts to change. I’ve mentioned a couple above (risk management for continuity and ‘sticking to’ a routine).
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Change Management is quite an old practice in business circles, but it is not as well known in the business of everyday life. The principles are based in the processes of planning, assessment, consultation, and monitoring, amongst others. The overall key is the planning. With the desire for new and improved habits and routines, achieving good change management relies on effective thought and planning, whether it’s in business or in our personal lives.
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The wisdom is this: plan to start a changed routine or new habit slowly, monitoring the change closely. Implement it gradually, particularly exercise. Be patient. An injury will set you back days, weeks, or months, and worse still, you could find that you NEVER actually continue the habit, or never get back to it, and this can be very de-motivating. How many people have failed once and never tried again? If you fail, keep trying. Don’t lose your motivation altogether. Good planning can inspire discipline and be highly motivating in itself.
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The cost in going slowly is easy to bear when you consider the enormous benefit, in looking back in the months to come, on how disciplined you were and what the rewards were. Diligence in this way demonstrates your leadership over yourself, your ability to ‘listen’ to what your body and mind is saying to you, and your commitment to overcome the significant obstacles of change.
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We need to manage change carefully and dutifully. Make sure you give sufficient thought to the planning so that you bolster your chances of success.
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© Steve J. Wickham, 2008. All rights reserved Worldwide.
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This article also featured on EzineArticles at: http://EzineArticles.com/?id=911988

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