MORE PRINCIPLES FOR CHANGE

Change is the name of the game! I know, you're thinking, boy is that trite, so what else is new? The reality is is that change is the new constant in our lives...today, tomorrow and probably forever! When people ask me "when is it going back to the way it was before?" I just flat out say, "it's not," so we need to accept that fact and begin to bring change into our own lives, as and if needed.

I don't know where you are on the continium of change, but I've accepted that I can't control most of the change going on around me. Once that reality hits home, you realize that you can control change in your own life, at least the change you institute.

Change is about personal choices and consequences, whether it be at work, at play, or just in life overall. For every action we take, or don't take, regardless of our age or stage of life, there is a reaction. People will tell me they want to rewire® their lives. It doesn't matter if it is to secure a new career, to experience a different level of leisure and fun or to find new purpose at work and play, you can't hit a new goal or dream without experiencing some type of change.

Whether we like to admit it or not, we are a nation of procrastinators. That's why I wanted to give you some principles for change. The goal is to help you coach yourself through a change. I don't claim ownership of these principles but I find them very sound for the times!
And they are new to the way we think about life and our future.
So here are four new principles for change for you to ponder and use:

• Choices & Prices- Life is an auction, and everything has a price ticket. The question is "how much are you willing to pay?" and "can afford to pay?"
• Responsibility-The person who feels the problem most has the greatest responsibility for correcting it.
• Replacement-The best way to ovecome a bad impulse is to repalce it with a better one.
• Levels-Every situation has many things going on that need to be recognized and assessed.

When times are challenging it's easy to become complacent. I hope that we can all be there to help each other...that's why I wanted to share these thoughts on change with you. They are slightly different from many other messages and I hope they help you think about your life in a different way. There are things you want to change and things you need to change--and as you go through the list appreciate what you have and don't ever want to change in our life!

I'm not saying that change is easy, but with some thought put into it, change does NOT have to be as hard as we sometimes think it will be or as hard as we make it!

12 PRINCIPLES FOR CHANGE

Over the weekend I was at a party and "change" was on everyone's mind. Each person wanted to, or was being forced to, make some type of change in their life. The desired change ran the gamut from changing their work, their weight, their time management, or moving into their next and not knowing what to do! The needs were as diverse as the ways in which people were approaching change.

Thinking about them, and all of us who want to change something in our life but are undeclared as of yet, I went into some old "paper" files and found a long forgetten list entitled: 12 Principles of Change. I don't know where I got it...I don't claim initial ownership of it, but I do take responsibility for getting the list to you over the next few blogs. I have listed the top four principles below.

Read them, then read them again. They look simple until you reflect on them and apply them to your life. The Top 4 Principles are as follows:

• Purpose- We are happiest when moving toward a goal.
• Perspective-Situations may look different depending on our point of view.
• Balance- Nature hates imbalance. Most problems are a sign that an imbalance has occurred.
• Escalation- Doing the same thing usually gets the same result.If we are not succeeding we need to change the balance of forces.

Just a few thoughts to get you going on your road to change and rewiring! Use these principles to coach yourself!

WHAT DID YOU LIKE TO DO WHEN YOU WERE YOUNG?

I just got back from 10 days in London. It was strictly for fun but friends were surprised I went because I have been to London many times before. Now some may think..."why aren't you going to a new place?" I love new, and have a curiosity to explore new places, however quite honestly I LOVE LONDON and have since I was in the third grade.

In my speeches on rewiring I tell people to look into their past to discover interests or themes that could lead to new career or work opportunties. But now I'm saying use your past to re-discover new fun! You see, one day in school, a teacher who was frustrated by me said..."who do you think you are? Lady Jane Grey?" I had no idea what or who she was talking about so I ran to the library and discovered the book on Lady Jane Grey, the 16 year old girl who sat on the English throne for only nine days before she was beheaded! I was smitten with her story...and that was the beginning of my love fest with the Tudors, London and English history overall!

So why did I go to London now? To see the special exhibit on Lady Jane Grey at the National Portrait Gallery. We can make our fun time even more fulfilling and rewarding for ourselves when we go deeper into our experiences! So I like to say follow your dreams and your themes!

And I'll have more themes to report on about London!