How to make change your ally

Year after year, I revisit Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People as a refresher or a way of putting things into perspective in my life. Take it as a personal performance review and my metrics are the principles.

One principle that never ceases to amaze me is the paradigm shift. For me, adopting the concept of paradigm shift helped me navigate through treacherous career terrains and challenges I never expected I’d encounter.?

But what is a paradigm shift? Formally, a concept brought into the common?lexicon?by the American physicist and philosopher?Thomas Kuhn.?

To my own understanding, it’s when you discover something, and it alters your fundamental way of thinking towards the matter; or plainly speaking, you need to change something that is part of your core belief or value. Easy to define but as humans, we are not very welcoming to change.

We like routine and predictability. It’s comfortable. There is trust for tomorrow’s outcome, right?

That’s why when unprecedented things happen, like COVID-19, we put our fight or flight defence on. How did you react when you first heard about COVID-19? We’ve seen on TV the panic, mania, and rattle.

But this has taught me to find solutions and ease into them with a smooth transition as much as possible.

Embracing paradigm shifts is crucial in both personal and professional aspects since we are operating in an ever-changing world. We are now confronted by changes due to technology or cultural concerns.

It did happen to me, and life (well, thank you LinkedIn !) led me to meet Cristiana Vigo and eventually North Point Academy HQ team.

Lo and behold, I was introduced to coaching and the impact on me was another paradigm shift! Learning what coaching is and how to coach people has been a life-changing experience ever since.?

It’s knowing that the other person got great value from the session or discovered something helpful to them that gives you a natural high.

When you are not afraid of change, the grass is definitely always greener. The concept of paradigm shifts - and also coaching - are helpful tools that you can put in your toolbox while facing change head-on!

So, here are the top 3 things I learned when I am going through paradigm shifts, and integrating some of the transformational NPA coaching tools and models that I have picked up during my studies.

1.????Adapt. You are human. Your basic survival technique is evolution, and to evolve means accepting new ideas and concepts adapting or integrating them into your way of living or organizational culture. In fact, change is inevitable, So, welcome change and learn more about it. That’s how resilience is born.

2.????Clearer vision. When you are welcome to change, it helps you understand the world, regulate your emotions, and organise information around you. It gives you a clearer vision because it determines and breaks down your cognitive biases. One of North Point’s tools is called “The Journey” and it helps you map out your challenges until you can arrive at a probable solution.?

3.????Be teachable and teach people. Be open to learning new things. You will discover new things and one way or another you need to implement or incorporate these into the change that has happened to yourself or your organisation. By teaching, you can either mentor them or coach them. In our organisation and course, we use an impactful conversational model, and we use powerful questions to teach and learn from each other.

All in all, no one knows the future and we cannot control any external factors.

What we can control is what happens within and how we project it to our outside world. Trust me, even with the smallest drop, the impact ripples.?

I hope you enjoyed reading our newsletter this month. Tune in for the next one!

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By Trixie Danielle Balangao / NPA Marketing & Communications Specialist