New Year, New You?

As we start a new year armed with good intentions and unshakeable (at least for a week) resolutions, what's going to make this year any different to the last?

'Be the change you want to see', said Mahatma Gandhi. But how does this square with what so many of us want i.e. change that we didn't have to sacrifice to achieve.

Because much as we say we want change, how many of us are really prepared to change what we do in order to get the change we say we are seeking?

Successful people are the ones who actually DO what other people only think about, as one motivational author once said. If we really want to change the output, we have to change the input. Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results is, at best, wildly optimistic and, at worst, the path to madness.

Whether it's about losing weight or gaining skills, we pretty much all know what we need to do. Even those that spend a fortune on diet books will, when pushed, admit that dropping pounds involves a combination of eating less and moving more. And there's no getting away from the fact that learning a new language is going to involve studying grammar and learning vocabulary. So where's the problem?

Well, much as we know what it takes to make change happen successfully and indeed make an eloquent and persuasive case for it (the climate change conference held last month is a case in point), something gets in the way of putting this knowledge into practice. As human beings in an age of quick fixes and instant gratification, we want the results of change to appear now and not as the result of painstaking hard work. We disregard our own wisdom; perhaps because we hold some sort of limitation in our mind about what we can achieve, or perhaps because we blame pressures such as time, money or others.

So the problem is how to deal with the big gap between what we know and what we actually do to make change happen.

When we set out to make a change, finding a way to think about change that works for us will be most likely to lead to success. We are probably best placed to succeed if we apply the same principles as we would to a change project at work: making a case for change, creating a shared vision, having the capacity for change and taking action.

Applying these principles to ourselves would entail understanding the real pressure and motivation for change is it something we want for ourselves or is it being imposed/suggested/demanded of us? If we accept that we want this change for ourselves, we have to have a clear vision of what we are seeking as a realistic outcome and then convey that vision to those around us to gain their support, or indeed forestall their sabotage for, as Woodrow Wilson pointed out, "If you want to make enemies, try to change something."

We need to make sure that we have the capacity to change, that we have identified what we need, be it time, money or people, and are committed to finding these. Finally, it's all in the doing taking action.

If you really want this New Year to lead to a new you, it will take work. Change that lasts is one where people's expectations are realistic and progress is gradual rather than radical. The process may raise dormant fears and could even feel like loss as the old familiar routine gradually transforms into a new pattern of action or behaviour.

A new you could be yours for the asking, if you are ready to do what it takes. And when the going gets tough, take heart from the saying "If nothing ever changed, there'd be no butterflies."

Happy New Year!