How to make a radical change in life or work

“I’m going to write a book!”, I declared.

People’s reactions ranged from the delight and encouragement of “Wow! that’s amazing!” to “Right, whatever!” My supporters clearly believed I had it in me to write a book. The doubters didn’t think I would achieve it.

They say we all have at least one book in us, don’t they. We hear it all the time. I didn’t think I had a book in me and didn’t really believe in this saying - until I started working with someone who encouraged me to think differently.  

Why do we shy away from radical change?

A life-changing project like writing a book takes a huge chunk of time, effort and dedication. To make it a reality you first have to be brave and find the courage to do it. Once you’re mentally in the right place, you then commit to making it happen.

During my writing process, when people asked what I’ve been up to I’d explain I’d been progressing with writing my book. With some people I could almost see their eyes rolling and hear an audible sigh. I’m convinced they didn’t believe that I’d do it.

Well surprise, surprise to all you doubters. My book isn’t just written, it’s published and available to buy on Amazon and at Waterstones!

So how did I do it? How did I make that radical change happen? 

What’s your purpose?

To make radical change happen in your life or at work, you have to be clear on why you’re doing it. What is the impact you want to create? We talked about this desire to get different results in the post How exceptional organisations react to changing customer needs.

Writing my book, I was very clear about its purpose. It’s for individuals, teams and organisations - large and small - who have a desire to learn how to truly look after their customers and, in turn, help their business to flourish and grow.

In some cases, the change you want to achieve will be much bigger than writing a book. For example, it might be to transform your organisational culture. No matter how big or small your change, the same process can be applied.

Here are a few tips to help you establish your purpose.

• Think long term - what will the future look like when you achieve your purpose?

• Be committed to the outcome - never lose sight of what you want to achieve and the benefits this will bring.

• Share it - Once you have a clear purpose, share it with someone else, your team or department. This makes it real and achievable.

• Invite others to join you - larger transformations require a supportive team. Explain your purpose very clearly so they understand the bigger picture and the change you’re striving to achieve. That way, everyone is heading in the same direction.

How do you make change happen?

So, you’re clear on your purpose and committed to making it happen. What’s next?

Start to break your project down into small manageable chunks. Prioritise each chunk of work, set aside space to do it - and then do it. I focused on one chapter of my book at a time. When I completed each chapter it felt SO good!

If you need support from other people to achieve your goal, building and training a team can take up valuable time. Having support from others is helpful but leading a team may take you away from your goal. If this happens, keep returning to your purpose and remind yourself why you’re making the change.

Approaching large projects in this way will get into a positive routine and you’ll soon gain momentum. The more you achieve and feel that buzz, the more you’ll want to achieve. Then, just like that, your project is complete and you’ve achieved your goal.

Never give up!

Be brave, have courage, focus on investing your time to make change happen and find the joy in doing it. I love being creative but I really dislike typing (although I did type each word of my book, no-one else could have done that for me) so sometimes projects stall if I’ve got to type up any form of document. To get over this barrier, I’ve found myself someone to do the typing for me. I can still get creative and do the fun, imaginative bit. Then someone else puts my thoughts and ideas into words on a page. I love it!

If you want to make radical change happen, big or small, you won’t go wrong following the words of the great Winston Churchill, ‘Never, never, never give up’.

You can do it. You will do it.