God, grant me the ability to be as good of a person as my dog thinks I am. – Anon

In a previous blog post we explored The 7 Mistakes Change Leaders Make, and how mistakes are necessary to actually develop success habits. Using the metaphor of the growing cycle we explored Mistake #1 which is Planting Your Idea in Barren Soil. Then we looked at mistake #2 which was Choosing the Wrong Kind of Idea Seed. The 3^rd mistake many change leaders make is to not watering or fertilizing your idea enough.

Linda wanted to help address exhaustion and tension at work. There was a bad “vibe” ever since the latest project went overtime and over budget. While a problem solving meeting had helped, she knew people needed something that buoyed their spirits but that didn’t take much time or money.

She had heard about the simple idea of creating fun contests that would run in the organization’s online newsletter. She went to her boss and shared stories of other companies that did a baby picture contest and a cartoon caption contest and how it improved the mood at work, enhanced relationships between people, and sparked creative thinking. Her boss reluctantly agreed as long as it didn’t pull too much focus from their deadlines.

The pilot project included asking people to send Linda a photo of their pet for a contest in which everyone was then invited to guess who the owner was. Within half an hour Linda was inundated with photos of Portuguese Water Dogs, Persian cats, and love birds. One staff member complained that she wanted to participate in the contest but didn’t own a pet due to allergies. They decided instead that she would send a photo of her favourite Boston fern.

The next week the photos went out to all the staff with a deadline. By Friday, you had to guess the owner. The person with the most correct answers would receive a $75 gift certificate to a nearby restaurant. The restaurant owner had gladly donated the prize. The contest entries came through in droves and one man in accounting got all but four answers correct. He took his two colleagues out for lunch the next week.

Linda’s boss was thrilled with the results of the contest because he saw people laughing again while they tried to trick people into divulging the type of pet they owned. He noticed two people who barely talked to each other were now comparing notes on the idiosyncrasies of Portuguese Water Dogs. Meetings had a more light-hearted atmosphere, ideas about dealing with the project seemed more innovative than before, and less people seemed to be showing up late or calling in sick.

Linda got the green light to do a new contest each month. The only problem was that sometimes people attracted to leading change are not the same type of people who like to maintain the change. Change Artists are those who can do both or at least delegate to and steward those who will maintain it. Linda was enthused about the pilot project, but lost enthusiasm when it came to the on-going “watering and fertilizing” of her change initiative. The next month’s contest was to name the organization’s mascot (a wind up pig that grunted), which was successful, but not as successful as the first one. She skipped the third one because her idea ended up seeming too complicated. The fourth contest didn’t seem to appeal to people, and so by the fifth month she dropped the project.

Linda overhead one day, though, that people were disappointed that there were no longer any contests. She realized that she needed to delegate the on-going maintenance of this idea to someone who liked maintenance. She asked four people with that personality style and one of them agreed to take it on for the next 3 months. Walter in IT made the whole project take off again because he was already handling the “news” section of the organization’s web site, so it was easy for him to do. He elicited suggestions from staff and searched the web for new contests ideas. He made sure others helped him during busy months. And generally, he enjoyed the monthly attention to detail and the joy it seemed to bring people. After five years this organization still does about 10 contests a year. The role of contest maintenance has been passed along gleefully several times to people who enjoy this kind of task, and thus the spirit and purpose of the original idea stays well nourished.

We are looking for your feedback on our training program Creative Resolutions: The Art of Healthy Communication. It only takes 6.5 minutes to do

The results of the survey will be used to make this program as relevant as possible to meeting planners and attendees. If you respond by Monday, November 30, 2009, you will receive a 10% gift certificate to our online store.

Do you ever notice there are some things in life that you want to change, but they just don’t? Maybe you want to stop being late, or lose some weight, or improve your relationship with a co-worker, or get more sleep. Human beings are actually genetically programmed to resist change. But the good news is that neuroscience is now telling us that the brain is plastic so you can actually “teach an old dog new tricks”.

Habits got you where you are and so the good news is that new habits can eventually get you where you want to go. Habits write new neuron pathways in your brain. Over time this creates a new default. This of course isn’t new information.  Aristotle, the ancient Greek philosopher, once said:”We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit.”  Here’s a couple of examples, Linda’s new habit of walking to the gym instead of driving helped her lose 5 extra pounds over one year. Mark’s new habit of getting all his supplies ready by the door the night before helped him stop being late.

Here are 5 tried and true habits for creating the change you want:

1.  Create an ideal outcome

David Whyte, an expert on workplace creativity, is quoted as saying “The antidote to exhaustion is not necessarily rest, but often it’s wholeheartedness.” Often you can’t change something because you are far too focused on what you don’t want. This only reinforces it and can make you exhausted. See if you can reframe in terms of what you do want. For example, “I don’t want to attend these long boring meetings,” becomes “I’d like to have shorter, more engaging and productive meetings.” “I am tired of this constant back pain” becomes “I’d like to have a healthy spine.” Sounds simple, but do you do actually practice this as much as you could? That habit alone of reframing could create a sense of wholeheartedness that will fuel your change like nothing else.

Bottom Line

Here are 4 short activities to help you try these habits:

1. Write out 3 complaints you have in your life and reframe them in terms of what you want instead.
2. The next time something happens that triggers an “unhelpful” negative response throw both arms in the air and yell out “Excellent!”
3. Spend an hour this weekend de-cluttering one area of your home. While doing it, think of a goal you’d like to manifest and see if this helps move you further towards your goal.
4. Think of a change you want to make and then simply ask yourself “If I were exceptional at ___________ (being the change I want to see) – what would I do?”

For more ideas, tips, programs and support go to The Artistry of Change web site

Highly creative people who feel “stuck” can create problems for themselves. Beliefs about what we can and cannot do, unconscious fears inherited from our families or societies, anxiety about leaving behind the familiar can all contribute to feeling “stuck”. If highly creative people don’t constantly create, the natural force of creativity can turn into “destructivity”. It can manifest as financial problems, an addiction, on-going conflict and drama, a health problem or a host of other problems.

If you would like to explore your creative potential in a highly inspiring, safe and beautiful environment, come to our annual Artistry of Change retreat at Hollyhock Oct. 1-4, 2009

In this program you will discover:

* habits that will allow you to continually re-invent yourself and keep your creative fire alive
* a 10-step self-coaching process you can use the rest of your life
* how to see past limited beliefs to find your real truth
* how to create a results-based action plan to manifest this next phase of your life

Watch this video of Carla talking about how to overcome the obstacles to embodying your vision or life purpose

Carla Rieger’s Artistry of Change® model allows you to burn away the dross and find the gold that’s been waiting for you. Through interactive, creative, playful, fun activities, Carla shows you the steps necessary to inspire your best creative work while effectively handling resistance, uncertainty and self-doubt. This approach blends the best of the world of artistry with the human potential movement in exciting new ways.

Benefits of taking this program include:

* tools to overcome your natural resistance to change
* how to harness negativity in your life for creativity
* getting crystal clear on what you want to manifest
* a specific action plan that you can implement immediately
* on-going support and accountability to take action in the world

Modalities for working will be:

* interactive creativity exercises
* slide show and entertaining videos
* group work and debriefing
* solo work

Come with a specific outcome you’d like to manifest such as a career, health, relationship or personal goal. This workshop is for people who have sensed that they are stuck in life and that the “stuckness” is costly them.

Carla Rieger is a creativity and innovation catalyst. As an author, educator, coach and entertainer, she works with individuals and organizations internationally to help them stay on their creative edge. Her books on innovation, communication and change plus her novels and plays are all designed to ignite people’s creative fire.

The Artistry of Change Retreat is coming up October 1-4, 2009, at Hollyhock on beautiful Cortes Island. Join us for a rare opportunity to get clear on what is next in your life. There are still some scholarships available. Check out the Hollyhock website for more info on scholarships or email Scholarship for application information.

To register click here.

Having fun at one of Carla’s retreat:

Neil Slade’s brilliant book “Frontal Lobes Supercharge Book” will change your life for the better….forever.

Neil says that working out your brain creatively makes you a happier person. This idea is no longer just a theory, it is a proven hypothesis in neurology. Neil adds that it helps to know how your brain works, like knowing how a clutch works on a car. That way you can make it work better for you. The brain has three parts or layers:

1. The Reptile brain is the inner core.

2. Mammal brain or limbic system is the next layer.

3. The Primate brain is the outer brain.

The frontal lobes behind the forehead are the most advanced part of your brain. Therefore, it’s useful to know how to switch on the frontal lobes. In this video, Neil shows you one way to do that.