It doesn't matter if we are talking personal life or business life. We all have problems. We all have things we'd like to change. For many of us, we don't know where to start. Might I suggest you start right here. Learn and understand these FIVE STAGES OF CHANGE and you will be on your way to making the needed changes in your life. You will have a plan for solving those problems.
STAGE 1 » THE REACTION STAGE.
This is when you realize there is a problem. When you are driving down the road and you blow out a tire. You find yourself in the Reaction Stage. You pull off the side of the road so you can check out the situation more closely.
STAGE 2 » THE IDENTIFICATION STAGE.
You are pretty sure you've had a blow out, but you're not sure which tire it was. You are not sure what caused the blow out. So as you walk around the car you begin to identify the tire (problem) that needs changed.
STAGE 3 » THE CREATION STAGE.
You know something needs to change. You have identified what needs to change. Now you are ready to create a plan to change the tire (fix the problem). In the case of the blow-out, you decide to pop the trunk and get the jack and spare out. You have a plan to change the tire.
STAGE 4 » THE IMPLEMENTATION STAGE.
This stage is clearly your implementation of the plan you came up with in the creation stage. You put the jack under car and begin going through the process of changing the tire.
STAGE 5 » THE EVALUATION STAGE.
Have you ever changed a flat? As you pull back onto the road, what is going through your mind? You automatically evaluate your great tire changing ability. Is the tire wobbling? Is the car shaking? Is everything working well enough to get me to the tire repair station.
As you evaluate the changes you want to make in your life or go to work solving problems, you might have to go through the five stages again. What if you had pulled back on the road, but the car was shaking so bad you could only go 10 miles an hour? Then you would know you had another problem (the reaction stage all over again.) |