11 Tactics for Creating Change

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

This article originally appeared on Medium.com 12/21/2020

Do you want to make change bulletproof? Well, first…I’m not sure that’s entirely possible.

But, I mean, with that being said…

If you are working on creating change in any capacity, there are proven steps that help you move forward. I have included 11 processes here that you can use to increase the sustainability of any change effort with which you are involved.

You don’t have to use all 11 steps. But, I’m pretty sure, that if you were to use all of them…At the very least, you could influence substantial change in your own life. At most, you could affect change in your family and community.

I outlined all the processes below. You can see that each one engages a different domain of our experience. If we are able to work with a challenge dynamically then we can increase our likelihood of success.

If you find that you are already doing some of these in your current process…what new process can you add that will improve your ability to sustain your current efforts?

Here is an outline. Some of these may make sense to you and others may be new. I explain each one in detail below this list.

Cognitive

• Find the brightspots

• Script the critical moves

Feeling / Emotional

• Identify what’s meaningful and inspires you to take action

• Practice mindful, or somatic, movement and stretching regularly

Physiological

• Remember to breathe

• Get sleep, water, food, exercise

Action

• Take small steps

• Build habits

Social

• Seek out support

• Invest in your relationships

Environmental

• Organize your environment to make decision making easier

A Breakdown…

Find the bright spots

When, where, and how are you more likely to create a change?

If you can identify the conditions under which you are more likely to create, and sustain, change then you can go to work replicating those conditions.

Script the critical moves

Where do you have challenges working with change? Script and plan out your desired process. In the moment can be a challenging time to chart new courses of behavior.

By scripting out new behaviors and processes, we increase the likelihood of sustaining change when confronted with challenges.

Identify what’s meaningful and inspires you to take action

Discover your connection to something that motivates and inspires you to act. In moments of challenge, having a focus point for inspiration can give us a little extra boost if channeled into our activities.

Connecting your change to something bigger than yourself builds resilience.

Practice mindful, or somatic, movement and stretching regularly

Set aside time to connect with your body. When we are stressed, our body builds up tension and it is easy to disconnect from our felt experience. Take time to reconnect your body and mind.

Allow yourself space to release any stress and tension hanging on in your body.

Remember to breathe

Seriously, this! The power of the breath cannot be understated. So much so that I mention it every time I write. Use the breath to self-soothe and calm yourself when needed. Use the breath to bring your attention back to your body. Use the breath to turn your stress response off.

I can keep going but I’ll spare you any more. Point is, focus on building a daily breathing practice. It pays dividends. And, just like an investment, the pay off comes from the long term investment.

Get sleep, water, food, exercise

Everything in life is more difficult without these basic necessities. If you are working on making some form of change in your life, ensuring these 4 things are taken care of will improve your likelihood of success with anything.

When any of these are missing, you will be challenged regardless of what you do.

Take small steps

Change happens over time. Rome wasn’t built in a day.

Most of the time, change happens little by little over long time frames. Take smaller steps that you can sustain over time to focus on promoting new behavior which will lead to developing new habits.

Build habits

Again, change takes time. Creating change comes from habits that are practiced and refined over time. Focus on building habits, and processes, that lead you to your desired destination.

If our dreams are the destination, then our habits are the vehicle that moves us closer or further away.

Seek out support

Ask for help. Make a list of 3 people that you can call for support OR make a list of 3 support groups you can join (focus on at least 1).

Let people in on what you’re doing or going through. In addition to having perspectives into your blind spots, enlisting the help of those around you ensures you will have new ideas, emotional support, and an additional boost to your ability to be resilient.

Invest in your relationships

Set people up for success. Contribute positively to your relationships. Life is a team sport.

By empowering those around you, you give permission to the realities of others to value and matter. Help others move in a positive direction in their own lives and you may be surprised by what you find or how it comes back to you.

Organize your environment to make decision making easier

Set your environment up to sustain change. This is like making a rule to ‘not go grocery shopping while being hungry’ so you don’t buy a bunch of snacks as a result.

If you want to cut down on how much alcohol you drink, don’t buy it and keep it in the house. Same goes for junk food. Same goes…for just about any other type of change we desire to make.

Set up your environment to aid your ability to sustain change over the duration. As the saying goes, “If you hang around the barbershop long enough, you’ll eventually get a haircut.”

In closing…

If there is any facet of your life where you are hoping to create movement or change, these tactics can help greatly improve that process.

Pick 1 that really resonates with you. Work on testing and experimenting to figure out what works for you and what doesn’t. If you are already following some of these practices, see what else you can experiment with that may benefit your process.

I promise you, if you implement these tactics, your ability to create change will dramatically improve. At the very least, you will create an opportunity to collect additional data about what works for you and what doesn’t.

Happy experimenting!