The Road to Change

In 2001, Jim Collins published that famous book “Good to Great”.  The now classic business book talks about how and why some companies excel and others fail. 

Leadership reading is a passion of mine, so I read the book.

Upon reading and studying the book I was enlightened to the idea that these same principles Jim applied to businesses could apply to me.

Maybe you’ve never thought of “Good to Great” as applying to yourself.  However, I challenge you to read this blog post and think again:  http://www.yannickvandenbos.com/hedgehog-concept-the-three-circles

Yannick explains how Jim’s three concepts intersect and then talks about how to apply the theory personally.  Think about it, why are some people simply good and others great?

Back to Jim Collins book, “Good to Great”, which by the way, I read in 2002. 

I looked at the “brutal facts” of my life.  Here are just a few:

• Fact 1 – My thinking was stale.
• Fact 2-My family was not a priority
• Fact 3-My health was out of control

I’ve got to admit, the “brutal facts” looked grim.  Yet Mr. Collins’ book made sense. 

I wanted to change and I knew that for me change was going to be hard.  I needed to be held accountable.   With the help of a personal coach I began the long process of reframing my thinking, my actions and as a result the outcome of my life.

It is interesting to me how our computer brains work, bringing forward information stored for years at just the right time. Early on,  I was reminded of a VBS children’s song, “One Day at a Time”.

“One day at a time, only one day at a time.  That is the way the Lord will lead you, one day at a time, take that one day carefully, and walk that one day prayerfully, this is the way to victory, one day at a time.”

That first year, I learned to write a life statement.  I read and studied the “how to” develop and implement SMART goals; and I began to learn how hold myself accountable my “self-proclaimed” life purpose.

Oh yeah, a real good study on Google is SMART goals. They’re simple to talk about, however not easy to consistently implement.

Twelve years later there are concepts I am beginning to understand.  Maybe I should have understood them at 49, however I did not.  It is interesting to me how very little we learn in school.  We’ll talk later!