I found this inspirational blog this morning while browsing WordPress. :)

What prompts people to change?
by normancounselor.wordpress.com

As a middle school counselor, I am often faced with situations / relationships that are in need of change. Perhaps a student wants some action to end, a parent wants improved grades, a teacher desires improved attitude (the noun) but does not want to change the process (the verb).  People sometimes seek the outcome but reject the action required.

Today’s blog is filled with rambling thoughts about why we may or may not embrace change, and how some people make it happpen while others just talk about it.  Change comes from discontent.  No person ever observed a happy life, felt fulfilled and succesful, then sat down to outline how to change that life.  Most people who seek and accept change are unsatisfied and desiring a different set of circumstances; even more importantly, most people who embrace change are optimistic souls, folks who are convinced that circumstances can be better or situations can be made different.  After all, if you are the negative sort, walking around with your head down, why even look up long enough to see if change is possible?   A person’s view of change in that circumstance is likely to be more of a complaint.  Those who believe change is possible are usually folks with hope, those who have dreams, who believe in payoff for effort.  Aha, there lies the rub….folks who do not dream of  success, who have no reason to believe that payoff could come for academic improvement (and there are unfortunately many of those students in our education system), may have no reason to embrace change, they have no reason to hope that harder work, smarter work, or even actually doing some work could possibly be a good idea.  There is one reason some people make change happen and others don’t, only one reason that some people want and seek change while others seem to deny that change is possible – hope.

Hope is the cornerstone in the foundation of change.  Without hope, there is no reason to change.  Without a belief in something better or easier or more desirable, more efficient, more rewarding, healthier, tastier, you name it, change would be a moot point.   Change must lead to something better in order to be desired.

So, why is a school counselor rambling about change?  Teachers, parents, communities, society – all want changes in education, but until students see the payoff, the benefit, change will be minimal at best.  if you want to impact a change in your child’s life, you need the child to buy into the issue, to experience hope regarding the solution and to seek the benefit or payoff for the change.  That is what prompts change.

http://normancounselor.wordpress.com/2010/03/04/what-prompts-people-to-change/

 

Marilee Adams tells us to Change your questions, Change your life in her book about the 7 powerful tools for life and work.
In this book Marilee is asking us to learn how to ask ourselves the 'right' questions that will help us to transform our lives. She demonstrates through a series of chapters how the kinds of questions you ask yourself can profoundly affect your career.

A great read! recommends Dan Cohen, the coauthor of the book The Heart of Change. If you are going to get to the 'heart of change' you have to ask  the right questions'

We ask ourselves questions all of the time. Whats wrong with me?, What will I wear today?, What is there to eat?, How am I going to pay my bills?, What can I do for a living?

I think Change your questions, Change your life offers an excellent personal conflict resolution process, both internally and externally, when faced with unexpected change. In terms of career planning, it would be good to get a number of points of view.

Has anyone read Marilee'sor Dan Cohen's books, followed their suggestions and experienced a career result that you would like and are able to share?

You can't afford the luxury of a negative thought is a thought provoking book about the need for internal change by John-Roger and Peter McWilliams. 

 "Now it may sound like yet another book on positive thinking,but it is in fact the first book that makes clear the limitations of positive thinking. It advocates, instead, full acceptance of the current reality before focusing on what is positive. This distinction, like so much else in the book, unlocks new possibilities and makes for compelling reading."  - Ariana Stassinopoulos Hugffington tells us before the introduction.
In the Introduction the authors offer us their intention that "this is not just a book for people with life threatening illnesses. It is a book for anyone afflicted with one of the primary diseases of our time: negative thinking. Negative thinking is always "expensive" - dragging us down mentally, emotionally and physically".

Expensive can mean robbing yourself of personal careerwealth because of negative thinking. How many of you feel that you cannot become wealthy earning a wage? And yet with a focus on positive thinking and a good career plan, wealth is within everyones reach. A careerwealth change acceptance plan would help you to turn change into no change and in this way lead to settlement and the opportunity for wealth creation.

Why Change Doesn't  Work.

This is another thought provoking book written by Harvey Robbins and Michael Finley that asks you to  "Think about your own job experiences and the changes you have been asked to make in the past few years - TQM, reengineeering, restructuring.. Ambitious undertakings nearly always resulting in some degree of disapointment"  Harvey and Michael advise us while offering three options for us to consider when faced with unexpected change:-

1. lower your expectations
2. dig in your feet and stop changing altogether
3. find better ways to change
 
Why Change Doesn't Work is an excellent body of thought seeking to make sense of change, offering psychometric tests throughout the book, to help you to rationalise your external change circumstances.

However, what if, you have already rationalised the impact of external changes with an internal synergy that is able to handle change, with a no change personal code of conduct that accepts change, not only with a positive mind, but with a fixed action plan?
Planning for change is not a new concept. Harvey Robbins and Michael Finley make a living out of helping organisations change in more productive ways.  People are planning change all of the time. I guess is the question is are you? Are you planning for change in your life? No not planning changes, planning for when change happens, no matter what that change may be?