WHY PEOPLE DON'T CHANGE
Have you had the experience of wanting to change but no matter what you do, you keep doing the same thing and ending up in the same situation?
You wish you could change the mold, read countless books, go to many motivational seminars, seek advice from people who have attained a level or accomplished what you are trying to aspire to, but you are still not making a dent regarding any significant change.
If there was one answer to this, it would be “I don’t want to change what I have got.” That is the truthful answer. People do get what they decide they want. They do this based on the knowledge they had when they set the goal to get what they have now. There is always that previous goal or decision set by the person.
There is the life cycle of going to school and learning some basics and then to college to learn specific skills for a particular profession or career, getting a job, starting your own business saving money, getting married, buying a house, investing for retirement, retiring and everyone knows what is next. It is easy to get into a well grooved-in genetic pattern. So this can be a reason why people don’t change.
LEARNING NEW THINGS
Let’s assume that you’ve disagreed with following the “genetic pattern” and want to change but don’t know-how.
Back in the late 90s and early 2000s, I noticed that the consulting programs we had there were actual practical applications of the material we delivered in workshops and seminars. We saw great changes. When we delivered seminars without practical application, we saw very little change.
When people are educated in a new subject, they will get ideas. However, if the next two steps are not taken, you rarely see any change.
EDUCATION—IDEAS—PLAN—IMPLEMENTATION
Probably the biggest difference between the Elon Musks and Steve Jobs of this world is that they would gain knowledge, get ideas, and then get into action on implementing their new ideas.
There is also another factor, and that is duplication. Dr. Dewey wrote an article, Three Times Makes Easy, when it came to study and how students read something one time through and can't answer the questions on the material. Their second time through was a bit better, but on the third time through, they could then answer questions coherently. I found for myself that a deeper understanding is attained by reading or listening at least three times, but sometimes I even got an even deeper understanding four and five times through. This does not mean, in any way, that I felt I didn’t understand the material even after the first time through (Unlike reading a legal document where after the first paragraph you want to through it in the trash bin), I felt that I did understand the material, but each time I would go through the material I would gain a greater depth of understanding and often huge epiphanies would result.
My suggestion is that when you read an educational book, read each chapter two or three times before moving on to the next chapter. Write down notes of things that you got out of the chapter. By writing key points down, you will also find that it will help you retain the data. I find it helpful to refer back to those notes later. Now write up a plan with reasonable target dates to implement and get into action on implementing what you have learned.
Successful entrepreneurship means good discipline and no procrastination. It’s much better to learn a little bit and understand it well enough to get into action and implement it. Rather than go to countless seminars, read tons of books and apply very little of what you heard or read.
This is the reason I developed the SBM Monthly Management Programs so that there was constant contact and reiteration of the material and implementation that results in constant expansion. This is why we are able to get clients on the Inc. 5000 list year after year.
We love to help with business expansion. Do not hesitate to call for advice in any area of business you need help with. Email or call me at 727-243-1336 for a free consultation.
Sincerely,
Graham Payne