Let’s face it, most of us are creatures of habit. We tend to gravitate towards the familiar and choose comfort over discomfort. And why wouldn’t we? It is the human condition to strive for happiness. But is it possible to grow and change for the better without stretching ourselves into new situations?
But who wants to plunge themselves in the deep end in order to make a change? Actually, I don’t think you have to do it like that. And in fact, lasting, effective change is more likely to occur when change is gradual and measured.
A few months ago I started attending AntiGravity Yoga classes (it involves performing a series of exercises inspired by yoga, Pilates, calisthenics and aerial acrobatics in a hammock-like apparatus). Aside from the great fun I’ve had hanging upside down, the progression that I’ve made in six months is amazing – not because I am actually that good at it! But because the stretching and small, progressive steps that are taken as you move through the class makes regular improvement possible. What I am able to do today, I could never have dreamed I could do when I did my first class.
This can apply to us in business as well. Let’s use reading emails as an example. Many experts say that it is better for productivity to read emails only a few times a day. If you are someone who looks at your mail program every time you hear the ‘ping’ of new mail, this might be a really hard habit to break! So rather than turn your notifications off altogether, you could decide that from 10am to 11am, you will close your email program. Each day, you can add one or two more times during the day where you are not responding to emails immediately. Eventually, you may be able to change your email program settings so that you don’t receive notifications for new mail, and schedule ‘email time’ for a few 15 minute periods throughout the day.
Be assured that regular, habitual and purposeful changes, no matter how small, will eventually result in big changes.
Michelle Grice writes a weekly column for business women in The Western Weekender