Note: I received no help from AI in writing this blog. I didn’t want you to wonder…

I’m afraid of change. I’ll be the first to admit it. It’s been a speed bump for me in every area of my life. Relationships, work, my health. Pick something. It wasn’t until 2000 when my friend David Buck handed me a copy of Who Moved My Cheese? that I finally realized how my resistance to change, and to a larger degree, unwillingness to explore the unknown, was limiting my business success and personal happiness.

When I mention the word, “focus” in my time management keynotes, I’m often amazed at how many people start nodding their heads. It’s incredible how many people can instantly relate. We’ve all become so distracted in our workplace and in our lives. We’ve got so much going on that our focal point becomes blurred between the past and the future, technology, the environment, people around us, and so on, that it’s a wonder we ever get anything done.

It doesn’t have to be this way.

I love it when I hear or read something that challenges my current perspective. A few weeks ago I was truly shaken when James Clear, in his powerful book, Atomic Habits, wrote:

"You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems."

Last week was going to be different. Maybe you made the decision to start exercising, or to more effectively plan your day. You really wanted things to be different. You're tired of the constant pressure of trying to get everything done or feeling like there's something more important you should be doing with your time. Your new activities lasted about a week... and then you slipped quietly back into old habits and old ways of thinking.

While at a reception at a recent association conference, an attendee found me in the crowd and said, "I am so looking forward to your talk about change tomorrow!" When I inquired as to why, he said, "I want to know how to get people to take action. They always say they agree with the change, but they just won't start doing things differently."

One of the great joys I have in my work is that I get to have deep conversations with people from all seasons of life. They may just be starting out on their career, anxiously trying to figure out what they want to do to make a difference. Others might have reached a level of success, but find that they want to explore new options, while another may be yearning to start their own business or make a major life shift. What I find interesting is that the inability for all of them to move forward is caused by...

A speaker once caught my attention in a unique way. He began by saying, "What can't you stand anymore? What is that image or thought that stirs you to change your behaviors? He continued by giving an example near and dear to my childhood-Popeye the Sailor Man!

At many of the conferences or corporate meetings where I am asked to speak, there is almost always someone talking about innovation. I hear things like “We need to develop more customer-centric ways of doing business” or “Leverage technology to increase speed to execution,” or one of my personal favorites, “Increase collaboration across the enterprise.”

When it comes to change a popular phrase in many organizations is the need to "drive change." It sounds like such a plausible idea, until you stop and think about the mindset it can possibly create within the people in the organization. If you are in management, the chance to drive change sounds appealing and almost powerful. If you are NOT in such a position, you may feel like a cattle drive is about to begin as you are driven to a place you may or may not want to go.

If you visit Amazon.com and type “leadership books” in the search box, you will get over 226,000 results. If you read a book a week, it would take you approximately 4346 years to read all of them. And more coffee than I can imagine. Yet you know the benefit of that “aha moment” when you find just the idea, thought, or strategy that gives you greater clarity and confidence as a leader.

Overwhelmed with our schedules and underwhelmed with our sense of accomplishment, we trudge through our days hoping one day things will get better. We rationalize our situation with lots of "When statements" like: 

In a recent survey I conducted with those who subscribe to my content, I found that “how to be more innovative” was one of the topics people most wanted to learn about online. I wasn’t surprised. Identifying creative and more effective ways of doing something are key to gaining a competitive advantage. Finding innovative ways to manage the tsunami of too much to do is also critical to improving work/life satisfaction. But just how does one become more innovative?

There it was again. I had experienced it multiple times that day, and it just surfaced again. I was having dinner with a group of consultants, one of whom had moved to the US from Europe a few years ago. In our conversation I asked him if he was surprised by the larger food portions here than in Europe. He said, "Yes, but I've learned to adapt to prevent overeating." At that moment we were each served a very large piece of red velvet cake. Continuing in conversation, I noticed my new friend ate about half of his piece and then pushed it toward the middle of the table. I looked down at my piece, and then did what I too often do... I sighed and then ate the rest of my cake.