Professionals who do not shed out-dated thinking, bias, and flawed decision making can be just as resistant to change as clients and members of the public—and as susceptible to mediocrity.

Good intentions, even solid logic, are often not enough to overcome ingrained or unconscious resistance to change which makes unknowing difficult.

Those who aim to change unproductive habits, like repeating “you know” or procrastinating, can attest to this.

Experience has taught you that trying to not do something is hard, so you’re sure failure is imminent. We get stuck in the past, because we are trying to talk (even when we call it think) our way into a new way of acting while stuck in the same place, real and mental. This inertia occurs in part because all we have to think about is the way things were done.

The reverse works: act your way into a new way of thinking.

Consciously alter behavior to the desired new pattern and the new way of thinking will gradually take hold. Begin by acting the way you want to end up behaving. Start by embracing new habits and your mindset will follow suit.

Pretend to yourself that you can and you will discover you can.

For instance, if you think you are shy about public speaking, and keep saying so to yourself and others, you’ll continue sabotaging yourself and holding back when speaking opportunities arise.

• Start by pretending you are not shy.
• Begin by never again saying or thinking “I’m shy.” That’s history.
• Act as if you are comfortable speaking in public and you will be. Worked for me.
• Gradually, take on bigger speaking challenges. You’ll discover you can communicate more effectively than you were telling yourself.
• Regularly remind yourself that you are acting yourself into a new way of thinking to steadily move forward. Keep this commitment fresh in your mind.

[Except from What’s Your Point? Chapter 2, section 2.2.1 Defy Mediocrity & Resistance.]

© 2021  Copyright   PJ Wade The Catalyst   “What’s Your Point?  Cut The Crap, Hit The Mark & Stick!” All rights reserved.

Additional reading:
“What You Don’t Know…”

No one can or does know everything. What has 2020 taught you as a homeowner about what you don’t know?