Change Model

Getting Started!

How can you prepare for the troubled grounds that your Mountain Climbing Expedition will inevitably encounter?

Ideas and Concepts

You are in charge of your climb and your ascent to the top of your personal mountain. The start of your journey begins anew each day with the choices you make that day. Your current awareness of your self in the context of your work, relationships and life is the “you are here” sign on the map of your journey. Your definition of success is the altitude gauge that lets you know if you are on the right course. Your associates and support along the way is described in your wheel of life.
You will encounter joys and challenges as you ascend upwards in your journey. Some choices will be big, some small. Each choice implies a letting go or an ending:
  • the struggle you choose to leave behind,
  • the work you don’t experience anymore,
  • the person you are no longer working with,
  • the job you left behind.
Each choice also implies a new beginning:
  • the joy you are now experiencing,
  • the new work that matches your strengths,
  • the people who energize you,
  • the job that represents a stretch.
Indeed change is constant.
It is important to understand your process of change, if you are to successfully take command of your climbing expedition. If you know what is “normal” for you in change, you can observe it as it’s happening during the change process, choose not to engage, and move much more quickly through the transition. Yes, this is easier said than done! With practice, you can excel at change. You will soon realize and feel comfortable with this transitory period, realizing that it is only temporary and will result in growth or keener awareness.
Here is the model that I like to use to explain and understand change:
<insert link to “The emotional side of change” here>
Remember that when you are implementing any new behavior change, it takes thirty to sixty days fully acquire the new habit.

Making Meaning

How does the emotional side of change prevent you from making changes? Do you avoid making change? Do you choose to continue with struggle rather than change?
How do you know when it’s time to make a different choice? What motivates you?
How might clarity about your values, strengths and energy, motivate you through change? (Can refer to “self-awareness model” for clarification).
When have you successfully navigated through change? What made the change easier?
What are the signs you experience that indicate an ending has happened?
What helps you to see the opportunities that are available to you? What helps you to see the possibilities?
What beliefs do you have about change that might not be helpful in your career?
What things are you “tolerating” in your life and or career that hold you back from change.
How can you discontinue “tolerating” these?

Experimenting

Select one choice that you are going to make differently today that implies a change, the significance of which is of a magnitude that is comfortable for you to take on. For example, you might push-back on a piece of work that doesn’t fit your strengths and falls outside your job description. Or, rather be honest with your mate about something that you are tolerating and no longer wish to. You get to choose and practice the change! You are in charge of your mountain expedition and there is only one way to the top.
As you anticipate the choice, what thoughts come to mind? Are you seeing the situation as a threat or an opportunity? How can you reframe the change as an opportunity?
Put in place any information, resources or people that will support you in making this new choice. What might make the new choice fun and playful?
Notice what you are letting go of, even if it was something negative. How was this “something negative” serving you? How can the new beginning better serve you?

Reflecting

After you’ve had an opportunity to experiment with change, it’s helpful to reflect on what happened during your experimentation: (The answers to these can be recorded in your career journal or mountaineers daily log.)
What did you learn about yourself in this exercise?
What challenges or fears did you face in taking action?
What did you stop tolerating?
What support might you put in place to handle change?
How might you be able to see the change as an opportunity right from the beginning?