Change and Learning - 3 Simple Steps to Make it Stick

Dealing with change and learning something new can be a challenge.

And we’re all likely to have to deal with it at some point in our lives.

So how can you deal with change and learning in a way that makes it easier to manage and more likely to stick?

Find out in this extract from a recent Great Managers® MasterClass.

In the short video below, we discuss;

1. Re-discovering your most successful learning style

2. What to expect when dealing with change

3. What to focus on when making change and learning stick

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Today is all about making Change and Learning stick. And what I’m going to show you in this session will free you from the pitfalls we all face when trying to make changes in your life and will allow you to achieve your goals with the least effort in the shortest possible time.

In this MasterClass, I’m going to give you 3 simple strategies to make change and learning stick.

Strategy 1 – Learn like a Baby!

Our first strategy is to learn like a baby. Now, what do I mean by this? You might think, “I’m an adult, I don’t want to learn like a baby.” But let’s go back to your very first successful learning strategy in your life. Let’s think about how babies learn for a moment. Babies go from crawling to walking and doing a few things. Think about their process. They start by pulling themselves up on the furniture, they take one step, they fall over, they get up, they take two steps, they fall over, they try again, they fall over, they try again, they fall over again and again and again until they’re successful.

Nobody ever says to their child: “You’ve tried that four times you’re hopeless at that”

But as adults, we tend to do this. We have one or two tries at something and think, “Oh, I’m not good at that.” And we give up. Whereas what babies do is that they keep going, they persevere. We need to go back to this successful learning style and keep going. Take small steps. Persevere.

Approach learning with curiosity. Ask yourself, “How can this work?” And if you fall over just think about it as a normal part of learning and you just need to persevere and try again… and again.

Strategy 2 – Get Moving!

Our second strategy is to MOVE OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE! MOVE in capital letters. You need to bust out, break free of your current boundaries or habits that are not working for you. You need to stretch yourself.

Learning comes from action.

And often what stops us from taking the action is the desire to stay comfortable, it’s squidgy and comfortable inside our comfort zone and it’s very familiar. But to learn anything new as an adult, you have to move out of your comfort zone into the learning zone. And this requires some creative tension or in other words discomfort.

Strategy 3 – Tune-in to WII-FM

Our third strategy is to tune-in to “What’s in it for me.” The ‘radio station’ WII-FM.

Utilise the law of self-interest.This is a natural law. There is no need to apologise for it.

This is how we are as human beings whether we’re aware of it or not. There’s nothing wrong with it. We all act out of self-interest and we are hard-wired to do so. Everyone is motivated by self-interest. So, that’s what WII-FM stands for, “What’s in it for me.”

To make your learning stick, what you need to do is link it to something of value or of benefit to you. Because people will change their behaviour so it’s in their own best interest as defined by their own values. See if you can drill down to find out what the values and benefits for you are, what is your big “Why”? What motivates you to move?