Episode D.020 Creating Positive Change

How to Create Positive Change
By definition, change is to “make or become different.” The problem with “different” is that it is uncomfortable. We need to leave what is known as the “comfort zone” and enter a place called the “terror barrier.” Creating positive change is 100% a you and you deal. Nobody else can do it for you and it starts with a decision. Current “realities” are held in place with our current thinking. Changing our thinking allows us to find solutions and move forward. We can’t control what happens to us, but we can decide how we will respond. 


Good management of bad experiences leads to great business growth 
“People will cling to an unsatisfactory way of life rather than change in order to get something better for fear of getting something worse.”  - Eric Hoffer

Realize that old programming and conditioning will cause you and your employees to reject new ideas. 

Take a look at this pain file and see if any resonate with you as the business owner. Also determine which ones are showing up with your employees. Once you recognize the pain everyone is experiencing, you can begin to influence and lead them from pain to gain.  

1. The Pain of Inexperience. I expect instant success.
2. The Pain of Incompetence. Find your strength zone.
3. The Pain of Disappointment. If we work hard now, what is on the horizon to take us down?
4. The Pain of Conflict. Mask or no mask?
5. The Pain of Change. Nobody likes change.
6. The Pain of Hard Decisions. Wanting everyone to be happy and making tough decisions are incompatible tasks.
7. The Pain of Financial Loss. 
8. The Pain of Responsibility. Leading a business and having others depend on you requires you to think of others’ well-being and can be tiring if we let it.

Change may not always be easy, but it can always be done. 
Anyone who has led change knows it is very challenging. There is a saying in sales that says people want to buy, they just don’t want to be sold to. The same thing happens with change. People don’t necessarily resist change. What they resist is being changed. 

Here is why:

1. People feel awkward and self-conscious doing something new.
2. People focus on what they have to give up. 
3. People are afraid of being ridiculed.
4. People personalize change and may feel alone in the process.

Turn bad situations into business growth 
Most people overestimate the event and underestimate the change process. There is a process that leads to positive change. That change starts with you.

Here is the process for you to consider as you navigate the change ahead:

1. Determine exactly what needs to change. 
2. Lay out each step. 
3. Adjust your priorities. 
4. Notify key people.. 
5. Allow time for acceptance.
6. Take action. 
7. Expect problems. 
8. Always point to success. 
9. Review your progress. ​

Written by: Donna Kunde