The More Things Change – The More They Stay The Same

I haven’t been sleeping too well recently, in that I keep waking at 04:30 or thereabouts, and I’m darned if I can get back to sleep…

I usually toss and turn for about 45 minutes, give up and get up. A cup of tea or coffee later, and I’m beavering away at my PC.

I think I know what’s at the heart of it all.  This has been a year of significant change for me, in many small but important ways, and my subconscious brain has been working overtime!

A good buddy and Uber-Smart money-making associate of mine Dave Shillito, has a great technique when he has a problem to solve – he speaks aloud “subconscious brain – go to work on it and give me a solution”. Then he carries on doing whatever he’s doing.

Craziest thing to watch I’m telling you!  But it works.

It set me thinking about why my head is buzzing these days – It’s buzzing with processing solutions to all the small changes that are going on my life right now.

The title of this blog post came from a 1970’s hit by my favourite band, Huey Lewis and The News”. See, I’ve got so used to the many changes going on in my life – I’d get totally screwed up if I had a day where nothing had to change.

My subconscious would have to come up with a change – just to keep me sane!

Back in the 1990’s when I was a working project manager, I had to deal with change on a regular basis.

But my point is, that the discipline of managing change in a project can be directly applied to ourselves.

Here is how I do it…

1. Log the change. –For you and I that means acknowledge that you need to change some aspect of your life.

2. Carry out an Impact Analysis.  — Think about, or write down, the impact if this change went ahead. The impact might be your time, or spending money, or learning new skills, etc, etc

3. Consider Options. — What action could you take to implement the change? For each option, how would the impact (above) change?

4. Recommended Option.  — Think through which option you would consider best (or tell your subconscious to go to work on it!)

5. Authorize. — Tell your subconscious of your decison.

6. Implement. — Do it and track your progress until the change is implemented. Go back to previous steps if you run into problems.

A good project manager will tell you that no matter how urgent the project (or task/activity/problem) is, you must give yourself time to sit down and create a plan first.

I guess this blog post is telling you just that…

Great project managers relish change and actively seek out ways to move their careers forward – HERE is a list of ideas to get YOU started!