Remember the days when our kids were growing. Our perception of the growth of our own kids was challenged by the fact that we witnessed, small continuous change. But a neighbor, a friend or a relative visiting us after a month or so could easily point out the change. We would then look for evidence and an old photo, or a video or a recorded statistic would come handy to show us the evidence of the change.
Behaviour changes are similar, they are slow changes and sometimes we may be discouraged by the fact that we do not see the result of our efforts. That is why in our book “Are You The Leader You Want To Be?”, we encourage you to write a “Behavior Change Journal” to record your journey on behavior changes. You need to consciously observe changes week over week for the parameters like:-
- How the behavior is impacting your work?
- How is it impacting your team?
- How is it impacting your work satisfaction?
- What feedback have you are receiving from your team?
- etc.
Any behaviour change takes time, sometimes months. Keep maintaining the behaviour change journal, this will provide you with focus and discipline. You have to regularly update your journal entries. Choose a day of the week and schedule this in your calendar and update the journal with your observations every week for the first ninety days and then complete it up, every fifteen days. Maintain this journal for at least six months.
You will be pleasantly surprised when you compare a month old journal entries with the latest ones. Congratulate yourself as you are taking the first step on your transformational journey.
To see the “Behaviour Change Journal” in action with examples of filled up journal entries over a period, read the story of “Arun”, in the book “Are You The Leader You Want To Be?”.