Getting Started on Your Path

Last week we talked about discovery-driven planning. With a goal in place, the first question you ask yourself in discovery-driven planning is, "to achieve this goal, what do I need to do?" Even with that question answered, you have the not so trivial task of beginning your journey.?

When you set out to meet a goal, you are essentially signing up to make a change, to close the gap between where you are and where you want to be. On my?Disrupt Yourself?podcast , I recently spoke to Katy Milkman, author of?How We Change . The book examines what stands between where we are and where we want to be—providing many research-based suggestions to break through those barriers.?

When should I start?

We've all heard and experienced it –?getting started is the hardest part. We often delay the start or try to align it with some milestone, whether it's next week, next month, your birthday, or the beginning of a new year.?

There is also the question of when it makes sense to change. When an HR leader at Google said to Katy, "we're convinced that we should be offering up these tools and tactics to our employees, but when is the best time to encourage change?" She realized how little research had been devoted to determining when we should change.?

Through her work, she found that there are moments in our lives that systematically shake up the way we look at time. They make us feel like we're opening a new chapter and render us more open to making a change. They can be extreme events, such as health scares or job losses, or they can be smaller moments, like the beginning of a new year. Katy and her team also found that people are more 'nudgeable' at those pivot points in time. When it feels like a fresh start, it is easier to see the potential of what could be and take the first step.??

How can you use the next mini-milestone – the beginning of the school year, your birthday, or even just next Monday, to take the first step toward your goal??

How do I start?

Embrace constraints,?the?third accelerant on the Seven-Point Framework of Personal Disruption?. Constraints offer structure, require focus, and can help to clarify how you want to disrupt yourself. In the beginning, the options and opportunities can feel endless, resulting in analysis paralysis or an inability to focus. In the US in 2018, over 2,800 people were killed in crashes involving a distracted driver, hence the many laws constricting the activities you can do while operating a motor vehicle. What's true for driving is also true for disrupting. Constraints are not a check on absolute freedom but rather a tool of creation. Have you ever asked someone to narrow down the dinner options for you? Constraints make decision-making and getting started less overwhelming.?

How can I make sure to stick to it?

Don't be rigid.?When researching the development of exercise habits, Katy's team hypothesized that to form a habit or make a change, you must engage in the behavior consistently. Consistency across the board: time, place, and environmental triggers would encourage the development of a habit, resulting in the change you desire.

In contrast, people who formed a routine around exercising at the same time each day either exercised at that time or didn't exercise at all. On the other hand, those committed to exercising each day at?some?point were far more likely to meet their goal. Routines that are too rigid become brittle, whereas flexibility can lead to greater resiliency.?

Setting the goal and committing to discovery-driven planning is just the beginning. To achieve a goal, to disrupt yourself, you must change. Change doesn't happen overnight. You must gain the momentum and the focus to begin and the commitment to persist.??

"Real change, enduring change, happens one step at a time." – Ruth Bader Ginsburg

How can you embrace constraints to focus your efforts and achieve the change you desire?

Where is one place in your life that can you change a brittle routine into a flexible routine?