Why change is hard

 “Ah...change is hard and it’s not easy.” Famous line from the children’s movie that teaches adult lessons entitled, “The Lion King.”

Why is change hard? One wonders.

SOCRATES says: “No man will change for the better until he sees the need for it.”

Famous athlete and motivational speaker Dr. Ola Madsen sent me a material that is very interesting. Listen to this:

People who succeed perceive failure as feedback. They use this feedback to change their strategy and take action again. They repeat this process over and over till they get what they want.

Dr. Ola is right. I have met leaders who would never admit mistakes. They pass the blame all over the place - pointing fingers at people, pointing fingers at circumstances, but never looking at themselves in the mirror. These are people who have pre-determined in their minds that they will defend the status quo to death.

Here are some questions to ponder:

– Why is it that so few people are willing to keep changing and taking action until they get what they want?

– Why do so many people quit along the way?

– Why do so many people even procrastinate in initiating action?

The reason is that, while everybody desires to succeed, only a few are truly COMMITTED to their goals. People, whose goals are nothing more than desires, will only do whatever is within their comfort zone to achieve those. Beyond that, they give themselves all kinds of excuses for not working towards those goals.

Dr. Ola says:

5% of people are COMMITTED to succeed.

95% of people WISH, HOPE, WANT, LIKE TO succeed.

5% of people make it a MUST to DO whatever it takes.

95% act within their comfort zone and give lots of excuses.

When a goal becomes a MUST we operate from a different mind-set.

I speak with HR people all the time. They say that change is difficult to achieve. It is actually not an organizational problem, it is a challenge that you and I need to face every day.

Do you know that there are 3 Certainties in Life?

1. Death

2. Taxes

3. Change

And most of us can handle the first 2 better than the 3rd one.

Sometimes I think that the only change people like is dirty diapers.

Change is impossible unless people believe it is possible.

Now here is what I have discovered.

The reason why change initiatives in organizations do not succeed most of the time is because you cannot rally people to change through a wonderfully prepared PowerPoint Presentation. People change only when they could FEEL the need to change. This is why knowledge alone cannot accomplish goals. People need to buy in to the idea that the change initiative will be for their own benefit.

It’s amazing to see that what a person knows in his or her head does not translate to action unless the felt need is there.

This is why, when I listen to some people talk about their testimonies and their personal relationship with Christ, the newfound knowledge is there – and so is a great emotional expression as well.

So, are you equipped with the knowledge to change? More important, do you feel the necessity to change as well?

(Attend Francis Kong’s one-day life changing seminar ‘Success Through Excellence’ on Aug. 13, 2010 at the SMX Convention Center. For registration and tickets, call Inspire Leadership Consultancy Inc. at 632-6872614 or 09178511115.)