One of the questions many of us ask when it comes to making changes to our leadership is, “Where is the best place to start?” I’m currently reading Craig Groeschel’s recent book Divine Direction: 7 Decisions That Will Change Your Life, and in it he recommends not attempting to change everything at once, but starting with one change that you will commit to living out daily. In one section he addresses the matter of personal disciplines and points out that too often we “commit” to changing half a dozen things at once. Then we get all fired up about that for a week or two (or less). Then we give up. Groeschel points out that over the years he has committed to making one change in this area of his life each year. He gives the example of committing to write one sentence in his journal each day.
One sentence. Anyone can write one sentence. Of course, one sentence will often lead to two, and then to a paragraph, and…. The key is to commit to writing the one sentence. If that were your only goal in personal development for a year, would you be able to accomplish it? Of course. Groeschel points out when we make such commitments it doesn’t seem like major change will take place, but the key is over time we will add many new disciplines. In five years, we’ll have five additional disciplines in our life, and ten in a decade.
Imagine having ten well-rooted disciplines for personal or leadership growth over the next decade! What would that do to your leadership or mine? While my personality tends toward committing to many new disciplines at once and then failing at most or all of them, the idea of only initiating one new discipline a year is both simple and easy, particularly when we start out with a small goal in the particular discipline.
I still find myself wanting to commitment two or four or ten “small” changes rather than one, but as I’ve been exercising this new plan am find the wisdom in Groeschel’s plan of one additional commitment made over a longer period of time, so it becomes ingrained as not only a habit, but a part of my daily life. I encourage you to choose one particular area of your life where you have been “intending” to make some change and “commit” to a change, a small change, in that area. Then do it and keep doing it daily until you have integrated that change into your daily life. Perhaps a year is the necessary amount of time. Then add another and another. Over the next decade you will become a much more effective leader. That’s my plan, and while I’d rather add ten new disciplines today, I know how that formula works in my life, and it’s time for me to succeed with one new discipline than fail at ten.
Here’s to leading better by committing to one new discipline–today!