3 Tips for Making Personal Growth Changes Stick

Posted on March 31st, 2010 by Meghna Majmudar

meghnaisfabulousMeghna heads up the High Impact Teams consulting practice at Ferrazzi Greenlight with Keith. She is based in New York City. If you have questions or want to increase your team's impact, contact her at mmajmudar@ferrazzigreenlight.com.

I had the pleasure of listening in on a call with Marshall Goldsmith, talking about his new book, Mojo, in which he shares what it takes to create more happiness and meaning at work and in your personal life. I’ve been doing a fair amount of personal growth work lately and his comments brought up some best practices for making these transformational changes stick.

1. Change your behavior AND your self-definition – I used to get feedback about not being as business-driven and analytical as I could be. It wasn't that I wasn't systematic in my approach or didn't know my numbers - it was that despite those things, I had a long time belief that I wasn't at heart a businesswoman. Acting the part wasn't enough - I was nervous, and my supervisors and colleagues could sense it. I needed to change my self-definition and believe in myself in that capacity. Once I had done that, I stopped hearing the negative feedback.

2. Make sure your comments are in the best interest of those around you – there’s a tendency to hit people on the head with what you’re learning and be judgmental. As Marshall shared, the best advice he’s given to CEOs is to ask if the comments they are about to share will help the person you’re speaking with. If not, save it.

3. Helping others also increases your own momentum – People often talk about ending friendships as part of the personal growth process. Sometimes it's necessary to "pull the weeds," as Keith says in Who's Got Your Back, so that their roots don't strangle the growth of flowers. But why not first give people a chance to come with you by making a commitment to sharing and helping those around you? I’ve been trying this with my friends and am amazed by the growth in the relationships themselves. All of us are happier and finding more meaning in our lives.

What about you? What best practices do you have for making changes stick?

Send a trackback!
1 comment // In Personal Development, Uncategorized
Bookmark and Share
« Previous Post Next Post »

One Response so far | Have Your Say!

  1. Meghna,
    I was listening in on the call today too! Thanks for posting these on here.

Leave a Reply