We moved a little over a month ago, and after a week of settling in, our one cat went missing. I did the typical things to find her – talked with neighbours, posted flyers and walked around calling her name. My research said to walk at dawn and dusk. It turns out there are quite a few dogs in my neighbourhood, and on my morning walks I encountered many of my neighbours out walking too. It’s been just over a month now and my morning walks have become a habit. I’ve found so many unexpected benefits. I’ve met so many neighbours, and my body feels a bit less creaky when I walk. We’re in the country, so I’ve discovered the beautiful colours as I’ve gotten to know the area. My morning walks have become less about looking for our cat and have become a habit.
Habits are hard to develop, and change is difficult. James Clear makes a few important points in his book, Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones:
- Habits are easiest to build when they are connected to a cue and reward.
- The people, places, and conditions around us often have a greater influence on our habits than motivation alone.
- Lasting change occurs when repeated behaviours reinforce a new identity.
But even with this insight into how to build habits, change often remains elusive. I find thinking of habits within this Change Formula 1 is helpful in understanding why change is often so difficult.
Here’s what the formula stands for:
- V = Vision – a different future that feels better, more rewarding or more meaningful than the current reality.
- D = Discomfort – the cost of staying the same needs to outweigh the effort of doing something different.
- FS = First Steps – small, manageable actions that make progress feel achievable. This is where habits are so important.
- R = Resistance – competing priorities or mental blocks that get in the way of change.
- C = Change – occurs when a compelling vision and discomfort drive us to first steps that are stronger than our resistance.
When I apply this to the change I experienced when looking for my cat, it looks something like this
- V – I had a very clear vision of what I was looking for.
- D – My children were so upset and became a pretty good motivator for walking and looking.
- FS – This was quite easy initially, and I walked as I walked at dawn and dusk. I had to shift into a more realistic gear, though, and only walked in the morning and shortened it a bit.
- Resistance – Early fall is a lovely time of year, and it was light out as I was waking up. Dark mornings would have made it much more difficult.
- C – As my vision changed from looking for my cat to walking for other reasons, my identity shifted. I became ‘a person who walks in the mornings’.
This change formula and creating habits also apply to leaders. I coach leaders to help them focus on a specific aspect of their leadership they’d like to change. For example, one leader wanted help to be less operational and more strategic. We talked about the discomfort of her current leadership approach. Even when there is great discomfort, I find leaders often struggle to see what the alternative is. They know they don’t like what they’re doing, but don’t know what to do differently. I use metaphors when I coach leaders to provide a picture of their future, different self. It’s the vision in the change formula. For this leader, we created a metaphor of a curious owl.
I also work with leaders to identify the steps to get from where they are to where they want to be. I provide them with practices or homework between our coaching sessions to develop a habit of leading differently. These first steps are small and intended to build a habit. I ask leaders to keep a journal, which helps them surface their resistance – what’s working well and where they get stuck.
Many leaders struggle to change not because they lack motivation, but because they struggle to see who they need to become. Habits provide the first steps, but it is the gradual shift in identity that turns new behaviours into lasting change.
If you could picture yourself leading at your very best, what would be different about how you think, act, or show up?
1 Originally created by Richard Beckhard and David Gleicher and refined by Kathie Dannemiller (link)
I’ve shared some additional posts online. Here they are, in case you missed them.
- Sharing the learning load – HR and leaders (video link)
- Client testimonial for team development program (video link)
- Lead, Learn, Grow conversation card: Addressing Conflict (video link)
