As we approach the New Year, so many people come to coaching looking for a change. A prominent question that I hear from my clients is, “Why is change so hard?”
My response, “Change is actually quite easy; you do it every day.” Yes, I realize that is a simple answer to what many feel is a complicated question, however, things are only as complicated as we make them out to be. Why does one person feel that change is easy, while another would feel that it is hard? It is a choice in perspective.
I love coaching clients through change and transitions in their life. It is very rewarding to see the person who emerges on the other side of the work.
Want to know a secret I share with them for shifting their perspective from hard to easy? Micro-commitments. Yep, pretty simple stuff here. The main reason people view change as difficult or hard is because they are looking at the big picture of everything they want to change… and that can be overwhelming.
Instead, my clients and I break it down to micro-commitments. Micro-commitments are small actions you commit to such as committing to what you will eat before going out to dinner or taking a walk before you start your day. We can commit to blocking an hour to write a blog or to returning work calls. Whatever your micro-commitment is, it needs to be brief with a designated end time.
So, why make these micro-commitments? Once you fulfill one, the next one is actually easier. So a week’s worth of a committing to a daily walk or change in diet, may end in weight loss for you that week.
It is the simple act of accomplishment that allows our brain to acknowledge that we are capable of changing. The more micro-commitments that we complete, the bigger changes we see, the less we fear change.
So, what are you micro-committed to?
