The Challenge of Changing Habits

When changing a habit or our perspective, most people focus on doing things differently. They will try to set their alarm clocks earlier to exercise, or proofread their work to avoid errors, and other well-intended actions. Typically, these actions work for a short period of time and then they are quickly forgotten.

The Leadership Cycle of Effort and Frustration

Leaders are not exempt from this process, as they will make attempts at doing performance reviews or mentoring team members only to let those efforts dwindle. This process often leads to failure and frustration. Therefore, leaders become convinced that it is futile and stop even trying to develop their teams.

The Real Foundation of Change

When evaluating this situation, most people will question the leader’s perseverance and discipline. While those characteristics are important, behind them lies something even more critical. That foundational key is changed thinking. Our thoughts will predict our success at changing anything in our lives or work.

For Example: Mentoring and Time Management

For example, if you want to find time to mentor team members, simply blocking it into your calendar will not work by itself. Doing so is a great step after you have changed your thoughts. Many leaders when reflecting on the need to mentor have thoughts such as, “I know I should, but I just do not have time”, or “This is going to take time and they should just know how to do these things, I didn’t have a mentor”.

If your thought process runs along either of those lines, you will not persevere in mentoring team members. You will revert to that excuse of not having time. Instead, changing your thinking and focus to how important mentoring is and how once trained the team member will save you time, motivates and empowers us to follow through on our goals.

How Thoughts Shape Actions

Our thoughts shape our attitudes, which then causes us to act in a specific way. Until we change our thoughts, our attitudes and actions will continue to revert to the former pattern. Consider a habit you have tried to change in the past and were not successful in doing so. If you reflect on that situation and your thoughts about it, you will most likely find thoughts that were negative about that change. For example, you might find thoughts about how hard it would be, how much it would cost, or how much you dislike the process.

Replacing Old Thinking with New Thinking

Instead, it is important to change your thoughts or “mental tapes” to the positive. Instead of thinking how much time it will take, consider that each day you do this new activity you are one step closer to your goals. It is not enough to not think a certain thought; you must replace it with a new thought. In doing so, you will be thinking, feeling, and acting your way towards success!