HOW TO CREATE LASTING CHANGE

For changes to be of any true value, they've got to be lasting and consistent. We've all experienced
change for a moment, only to feel let down and disappointed in the end. In fact, many people attempt
change with a sense of fear and dread because unconsciously they believe the changes will only be
temporary. A prime example of this is someone who needs to begin dieting, but finds himself putting it
off, primarily because he unconsciously knows that whatever pain he endures in order to create
the change will bring him only a short-term reward. For most of my life I've pursued what I consider to
be the organizing principles of lasting change, and you'll learn many of these and how to utilize them
in the pages that follow. But for now, I'd like to share with you three elementary principles of change
that you and I can use immediately to change our lives. While these principles are simple, they are
also extremely powerful when they are skillfully applied. These are the exact same changes that an
individual must make in order to create personal change, that a company must make in order to
maximize its potential, and that a country must make in order to carve out its place in the world. In
fact, as a world community these are the changes that we all must make to preserve the
quality of life around the globe.




STEP ONE

Raise Your Standards
Any time you sincerely want to make a change, the first thing you must do is to raise your
standards. When people ask me what really changed my life eight years ago, I tell them that
absolutely the most important thing was changing what I demanded of myself. I wrote down all the
things I would no longer accept in my life, all the things I would no longer tolerate, and all the things
that I aspired to becoming.

Think of the far-reaching consequences set in motion by men and women who raised their
standards and acted in accordance with them, deciding they would tolerate no less. History chronicles
the inspiring examples of people like Leonardo da Vinci, Abraham Lincoln, Helen Keller, Mahatma
Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks, Albeit Einstein, Cesar Chavez, Soichiro Honda, and many
others who took the magnificently powerful step of raising their standards. The same power that was
available to them is available to you, if you have the courage to claim it. Changing an organization, a
company, a country—or a world—begins with the simple step of changing yourself.

PART TWO COMING NEXT WEEK ON MONDAY

Thanks.

Nicholas Agaba