They say 'if your mind changes, your actions will change'—but here is what you can try when you feel you cannot change

If your mind changes, your actions will change.
If your actions change, your habits will change.
If your habits change, your character will change.
If your character changes, your destiny will change.

These are the words of the psychologist and philosopher William James.
You often see them in self-help books, and many famous people have adopted them as their personal motto.

I also felt a fresh sense of surprise when I first encountered these words.
And I have experienced the truth of these words many times.

However, I also realized that 'if your mind changes' is not easily achieved.

Even if you understand intellectually the importance of changing your mindset, your way of thinking, or your perspective, you cannot change so easily.

Assumptions or mental blocks—you know they are there, but you cannot change them.

Have you ever had that experience?

For example, in my case, when I was a company employee, I found it difficult to delegate work to my subordinates.

I would think various things, like worrying that they might think I was pushing troublesome tasks onto them, or thinking that it would be faster if I did it myself.

On the other hand, I knew—and others told me—what would happen if I didn't delegate work, and the risks and negative consequences that could arise from that.

I understood.
But I couldn't do it.

That dilemma is truly painful.

How do you break out of that?

You reverse the order.
In other words, you change your actions first.

It is not about doing something different all at once, but about trying to change a very, very small action just a little bit.

For example, in my case, instead of always going to the site by myself, I started trying to ask my subordinates, 'Would you like to come with me?'

It wasn't at the level of 'delegating work' at all, but I tried doing something just a little bit different from usual.

As I accumulated those tiny actions with incredibly low hurdles, before I knew it, I had reached a state of mind where I thought, 'Maybe I'll try delegating this.'

Well, one could say I changed my mindset to 'let's try doing a small action different from usual'...

If you are worried about 'not being able to change,' why not start with a very, very small action to change?

Surely, before you know it, you will realize that you have changed.

Until next time.