For the past two years, I’ve dived deep into habit change. I’m repeatedly noticing that this is the secret sauce of really powerful change for individual leaders and their organizations. Lots of people are talking about it. Really solid thinking and work around habit change has been done by Charles Duhigg in his book The Power of Habit, BJ Fogg and his work around tiny habits, Leo Babauta from Zen Habits and James Clear on how to build good habits and break bad ones. They’ve all done amazing work that has influenced me and from that I’m developing something that I believe really works because I’m seeing it work with my clients. What I’ve come to are the three Cs of habit change.
First is community, second is coaching, and third is consistency.
Community has been powerful for my clients as I’ve had them work together as smaller groups, all having common changes they want to make. When you work together in community and support each other, you know you’re not alone. This was influenced by my study of what Charles Duhigg reported about in organizations like Weight Watchers and Alcoholics Anonymous, and even the backstory of the Montgomery bus boycott, famously led by Rosa Parks.
What might COMMUNITY look like for you?
- Recruit two or more people who attended a recent training with you and agree upon one or two habits or practices you commit to integrating. Schedule time on your calendar to support each other.
- Create a private group on your favorite social media platform and report progress and seek support there
The second C is Coaching. Coaching could come from someone like me, a professional coach, but coaching could also come from a trusted person who’s willing to tell you the truth, ask you the hard questions and give you feedback. This type of partnership creates healthy friction where you know that your coach or partner is going to ask that tough question when you talk to him/her next week. I’ve been creating these partnerships with my clients in small groups because it’s difficult for me to coach everybody. It’s really been cool to see how the healthy friction that comes from coaching has caused real change in how they’re approaching their work and the adoption of new habits.
What might COACHING look like for you?
- Hire a coach (schedule 30 minutes with me to explore this)
- Identify someone you see regularly and observes you in action to be your coach (TIP: Both of you should read The Coaching Habit by Michael Bungay Stanier)
The last C is Consistency. Any type of change or development cannot be event-based. You must expose yourself consistently over time to whatever it is that you’re integrating. I call this “creating an IV drip” for yourself. That could be articles, videos, or discussions in the community you create.
What might CONSISTENCY look like for you?
- Find TED Talks related to your habit change
- Schedule time with someone who has successfully integrated a new habit or practice
- Create a RSS feed in your browser to automatically send you articles on your specific topic
Give one of the three Cs a try or try all three. They’re really powerful when they’re done together. I would love to hear what you experience. I’ll keep sharing my experiences. Please share what you learn in the comments.