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KEYZINE: An e-zine for LEADERS:
ABOUT THE PEOPLE PART OF BUSINESS
Volume
69, December 2006
Publisher: © Key Associates, 2006
ISSN # 1545-8873
http://www.mkkey.com
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This Issue: "Changing Habits"
Contents:
"Happiness is a habit - cultivate it."
- Elbert Hubbard
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WHAT'S HOT IN LEADERSHIP
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STRONG PERCEIVED ABILITY TO CHANGE
YOURSELF. SELF-EFFICACY.
CULTIVATION OF HEALTHY HABITS.
SUPPORT OF THE ORGANIZATIONAL
COMMUNITY, HELPING OTHERS WITH
POSITIVE CHANGE.
MODELING THE WAY.
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MAINTAINING YOURSELF AS A LEADER
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A habit is an activity that is acquired over time,
is performed frequently and automatically.
Habits can be behaviors or thoughts. Habits can
be helpful or the opposite--wasteful, unhealthy,
obnoxious, boring or outright dangerous. They
are also very resilient to change.
The highest correlate to successfully changing personal
health habits is "the perceived ability to change."
(See research abstract http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=1910893&dopt=Abstract)
Use "visualization" to see yourself in a better
light.
And realize that change is a process, which takes time
and support. Any change in that positive direction
is good, and will support continued movement in the
same direction. Success breeds feelings of self-efficacy,
which will then affect all aspects of your leadership life.
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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
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Where to begin? Everything's a habit.
Take an inventory of the consequences. What is draining
your creative energy and personal health? What is
impairing your relationships with others? What is causing
you to neglect other things that are important to you?
Here are some familiar (destructive) leadership habits:
* Being a workaholic
* Neglecting yourself and/or your family
* Procrastinating
* Being a "yes" person
* Spending too much money
* Being chronically late
* Computer addictions
* Negative thinking
* Blaming others
* Losing your temper
* Substance abuse (tobacco, alcohol, food, drugs...)
* Stressing out
Check off and get to work!
I've already failed at my New Year's resolutions. Any suggestions?
Reframe "failure:" Slips are not relapses but opportunities
to learn. Four times is the average number of relapses
in habit change. Relapse prevention is tied to
what you tell yourself when you do slip. We perfectionists
are all-or-none thinkers. When we get off the diet,
we tell ourselves we failed at dieting, rather than
saying "That's okay. I'll trim back next time."
Don't try to achieve too much too soon.
Realistic goals with small interim steps (and
celebration at milestones) is a better strategy.
What are the best strategies for habit change?
* Become aware of the undesirable
aspects of the habit.
* Own it--no person or circumstance is making you do
it.
* Take action--develop a plan and set a start time.
* Develop a vision of yourself without that habit and put a
healthy one in its place.
* Declare your intentions--tell others that you intend to work on this.
* Use dependable support networks.
* Take up new passions. The missing habit will leave a hole.
* Avoid triggers--cues that prompt you to revert.
* Plan small steps in the positive direction, not "cold turkey."
* Reward yourself for successes.
* Redefine failure, as suggested above.
* Short-circuit "urges."
* Be patient. It is said to take 21 days to change
a habit, from inception to embedding the new
behavior.
How do you deal with urges or cravings?
First, know that urges or cravings are short-lived.
They don't last long, and they are not unbearable.
Delay. Breathe to the count of 5. And divert your
attention.
Automatic thoughts are urge-makers. "I'm tense,
so I must have a cigarette," for an example. We have to
break the pattern of automatic thinking and behaving.
One behavioral technique is "thought-switching."
Change to another mental task, e.g., plan the perfect
vacation. Or find a refreshing mental image, like
the beach, and focus on it. Or put a more realistic
thought in its place (e.g., 40% of smokers will die
from that habit).
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EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES
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Lots of information about change and addiction
(alternatives to 12 steps)
http://www.habitsmart.com/
To change a habit, you have to change a bit of yourself
http://www.mindpub.com/art366.htm
Articles related to habit change
http://www.suite101.com/reference/habit_change
Key Associates offers coaching and facilitation
in change management for organizations and individuals.
See http://www.mkkey.com.
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OTHER USEFUL WEBSITES
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Habit-busting Secrets - 21 days
https://www.habitsaway.com/?hop=boris9
The top 10 ways to change a habit or addiction
http://www.topten.org/content/tt.BG44.htm
Awareness, acceptance, and action to change habits
http://www.coachmaria.com/articles/changinghabits.html
A refresher for CEO's on impulse control
http://www.refresher.com/!jcmimpulse.html
Former Keyzines on related topics:
Volume
4, July 2001- Change
Volume 22,
January 2003 - Personal Change
Volume
25, April 2003 - When Enough is Not Enough
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ARTICLES/PUBLICATIONS
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Claiborn, J. & Pedrick, C. The
Habit Change Workbook:
How to Break Bad Habits and Form Good Ones.
New Harbinger Publications, 2001.
Covey, Stephen R. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.
Running Press, 2000.
Covey, Stephen R. Living
the 7 Habits: The Courage to Change.
Free Press, 2000.
Cutts, J. Lynn. Change
One Habit, Change Your Life.
Book Surge Publishing, 2006.
McGraw, Philip. Life's Strategies: Doing What Works,
Doing What Matters. Hyperion, 1999.
Prochaska, James, John Norcross, Carlo DiClemente.
Changing for Good: A Revolutionary Six-Stage
Program for Overcoming Bad Habits and Moving
Your Life Positively Forward. Avon Self-Help Books,
1994.
Richardson, Cheryl. Life Makeovers. Broadway Books,
2000.
Salsbury, Glenna. The Art of the Fresh Start. Health
Communications, 1995.
Miller, William & C'deBaca. Quantum
Change:
When Epiphanies and Sudden Insights Transform
Ordinary Lives. Guilford Press, 2001.
Prochaska, James O., Norcross, J. & Carlo DiClemente.
Changing
for Good. Collins, 1995.
