The six logical levels of change proposed by Robert Dilts provide a useful model to understand ways we can achieve change at an individual and organisational level. The six logical levels are: purpose, identity, value/belief, capability, behaviour & environment.
Purpose: Why are you alive on this Earth?
This question may be hard to answer if you have never thought about your role in the wider world. Discovering your purpose in life is something that may take years. Most people will never find their purpose because they are not even trying. It may be hard to figure out your purpose if you have different interests and passions. Perhaps, you feel lost and don’t know where to start. That’s natural, everyone feels lost on their journey. It takes time, efforts and sacrifices to find your purpose. It is a self-discovery journey where you follow your own unique path.
So, where do you start?
You could start by pursuing one of your interests if you don’t know where to start. Learn, serve and contribute in that area of interest. Once you have gained sufficient experience, you will know if this is something you want to keep doing, or you may decide to move to something else. What you started with may change over time and you may find yourself with something different. Most people try different things before they discover their true purpose.
Finding your purpose and embracing it gives a sense of meaning to life. People with a strong sense of purpose lead a fulfilling life. They enjoy positive emotions and greater life satisfaction. When you have assigned yourself a life mission, you have something to look forward to every day. That mission gets you to jump out of bed in the morning. You feel you are part of something bigger than you. I’d like you to picture yourself being presented with a lifetime achievement award at the age of 80-year-old. What would your biggest contribution be?
Identity
If you asked someone “who are you?”
That person replied “I am a physician”
He identifies himself with his job.
People can identify to different areas of their life including their role at work, within the family, and in romantic relationships.
When was the last time you thought about your identity?
Identity is the way you view yourself. Identity encompasses memories, experiences, self-esteem and self-worth. Knowing thyself is crucial to live an authentic life. Self-awareness is key in understanding the self. It is shaped by our experience and choices we make. Identity formation is a matter of “finding oneself”. ‘Who am I?’ is a complex question that needs an in-depth exploration of one’s talents and potential with available social roles. Your identity is what defines you as a person. Identity is something that is malleable and develops as one confronts challenges and grow in life. People who have a strong sense of their identity enjoy happier and a more fulfilled in life.
Value and Belief
Everyone has personal values whether the person recognize them or not. Values are the fundamental beliefs dear to us that govern our lives. Mahatma Gandhi once said, “Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.”
When your thoughts, feelings and actions are in congruence to your personal values, you experience a sense of satisfaction and contentment.
Do you know your core values?
You need to take a deep look inside yourself to understand your core values. Being in alignment with your personal values make all the difference in the way you live and work. When your choices and actions are incongruent to your set of values, you may feel an internal stress and conflict. This is often a source of frustration and profound unhappiness.
Common personal core values are achievement, freedom, community, honesty, respect, love and integrity. Identifying and understanding your core values is a challenging exercise for many people. Being aware of what you value most is important and worth your time.
When you understand and honor your personal values, it’s easier to make crucial decisions. You are guided by a moral compass in decision-making to determine the best direction for you and your life goals.
Capability, skill and competence
Capability ranges from behaviours you do without conscious efforts to skills you have learned more consciously. Capabilities refer to plans, strategies, knowledge and skills needed to achieve a goal. It is considered the ‘how’ level, also known as competence.
Competence can be classified into 4 levels:
- unconscious incompetence
- conscious incompetence
- conscious competence
- unconscious competence
For instance, brushing your teeth might seem to be effortless for you. However, there was a time when you were unconsciously incompetent before you learned to consciously use a toothbrush. Then you developed your skill such that you don’t need anybody’s help to brush your teeth. Competencies can be learned and trained. Do you remember the first time you drove a car? How competent were you? The capabilities you might need to develop will be different to someone else’s capabilities. Successful people identify capabilities related to their purpose. They develop crucial skills, continuously learn and grow. Improving your skills with constant learning and consistent series of actions increase your capabilities. When you stack a skill on the other, you increase your value since the marketplace rewards people with valuable set of skills. You allow the compound effect principle working to your advantage thereby increasing your odds of success.
Do you know about the 1% rule?
“When you improve a little each day, eventually big things occur. When you improve conditioning a little each day, eventually you have a big improvement in conditioning. Not tomorrow, not the next day, but eventually a big gain is made. Don’t look for the big, quick improvement. Seek the small improvement one day at a time. That’s the only way it happens and when it happens, it lasts.” —John Wooden
I first read about the 1% rule in Atomic Habits from James Clear. The 1% rule is simple.
Focus on improving your capabilities by 1% each day. Just 1 %, no more. It might seem very little. In the beginning, the improvement will appear negligible. Rome wasn’t built in a day, neither will you. Great things take time to build. When you continually improve by 1% each day, those improvements start compounding on each other. Slowly, the good habits you develop stack over time. Several months later, the improvement you make in 1 day equals to what previously took you a few days to accomplish. When 1% compounds every day, it doubles every 72 days. If you continually improve yourself by just 1% each day, imagine the personal growth in your life at the end of this year.
Behaviour
“Our character is basically a composite of our habits. Because they are consistent, often unconscious patterns, they constantly, daily, express our character.” -Stephen Covey
Adopting a new habit or breaking an old one is notoriously hard. Human beings generally do not like change. We stick to old routines for various reasons that may include fear of the unknown or fear of failure. Researchers Prochaska and DiClemente were originally interested in why some smokers were able to quit on their own while others needed help. They found smokers quit only when they are ready to do so and discovered five stages that can be used to assess a person’s readiness to make change. Understanding the science of behavioural change has been insightful in enabling people to make lasting changes. The stages of change model have been an effective construct in understanding how people go through change successfully.
Three important considerations to modifying behaviour include:
- Readiness to change
- Barriers to change
- Expect relapse
You could explain everything about healthy lifestyle to someone and be sorely disappointed at the end if you don’t know at what stage the individual is currently in. When someone is not ready to change, your information goes from one ear and out the other.
Stage 1 Precontemplation
During precontemplation stage, you have no conscious intention of making a change. People in this stage may not recognise their behaviour is unhealthy due to lack of awareness or information. Most people might be in denial and tend to avoid thinking about the unhealthy behaviour. For a person to move past precontemplation, you need to sense the unhealthy behaviour is holding you back from attaining important personal goals.
Stage 2 Contemplation
At this stage, people become increasingly aware that the behaviour is a problem. You consider the potential benefits of making a change and the weigh the cost. You may resist change as the costs tend to stand out. Ambivalence may cause you to re-weigh the benefits and cost. This stage can last over months or even years. You may experience conflicted emotions about changing as you view the time and effort involved in change. Most people prefer to be in their comfort zone and procrastinate.
The key to move to the next stage is a shift from an abstract idea to a belief that modifying your behaviour is beneficial to you. You need to ask yourself why you want to change. Congruent people tend to think of intrinsic reason to change. It might be helpful to make a list of pros and cons of behaviour change and identify barriers and think how to overcome them.
Stage 3 Preparation
During preparation stage, you are ready to start taking actions. This stage typically lasts a few weeks. You might take small steps that will prepare you to make the required change. People may share their plan to change to friends and family who may offer advice. Gather information about ways to change your behaviour and do your research.
It’s important to write down your goals and prepare a plan of action if you want to increase your chances of making a lasting change.
Stage 4 Action
Once you have a plan, you need to take direct action in order to accomplish your goals. If you don’t spend enough time in preparation, it is difficult to progress in action due to temptations from people or your environment. It’s important to fight urges that could cause you to slip back to old habits. When you work towards your goals, reward yourself for the positive behaviour. Reinforcement and support are extremely important to strengthen your commitment and move forwards. Remind yourself regularly of the belief in making change and the benefits that will come.
Stage 5 Maintenance
In maintenance stage, you have changed your behaviour and you need to turn it in a habit. Be aware of situations where you might be tempted to slip back to old habits. Avoid temptations and aim to replace these old habits with positive actions. Reward yourself if you can avoid a relapse. Surround yourself with supportive people whom you trust.
Relapse
Relapses commonly occur in behaviour change. If you lapse back to an old behaviour, don’t beat yourself up. Take it as a minor setback. Analyse what led to the relapse and identify possible triggers. Avoid the triggers in the future and don’t give up on yourself.
Environment
Environment encompasses everything outside of yourself. It is the state of the external context where people live. Your surrounding influences your thoughts, feelings and actions every day. The choice of clothing a person wears is heavily influenced by the climate. In the UK, people can be found wearing coats during winter. If you live in a tropical country, you don’t need a winter coat. Recognizing the impacts of environment on your livelihood is vital.
Meet John, a University student who wants to be healthier. He lives with his flat mate, Tom, who is less health conscious. John has decided to eat nutritious food. He wants to stop eating so much junk food. He made a good start by carefully selecting groceries and cook instead of ordering take-out. As the weeks went by, it became more difficult to stick with his routine. Cooking took significant time and effort while Tom ordered take-out almost everyday. The savor of the pizza Tom just ordered reminded John of the convenience of just ordering online. The temptation to fall back to old habit was very high.
We can observe environmental factors that antagonized John’s effort to be healthier. If John wants to adopt and maintain a healthy habit, he needs to consider the conditions in his environment. In order to set the best conditions to be healthy, John needs to start by talking to Tom. Imagine if John and Tom agreed to cook together and shared the chore. It would take less time if both chipped in. Cooking for 2 people is more cost-effective than cooking for one. John would not be exposed to cues that constantly remind him of fast food. Tom would cut his spending on take-out and eat nutritious meals. The environment in the flat would enable John to adopt a sustainable habit without resistance.
The odd of adopting and maintaining a habit is higher when you set the best conditions in your environment to work in your favor.
Conclusion
Being conscious of the six logical levels (purpose, identity, value/belief, capability, behaviour & environment) can help you understand at what level you are attempting to make change. Sometimes, we might waste time trying to make change at a lower level when we need to consider a higher hierarchical level to achieve that change. If you want to achieve a desired change in life, think about the logical level you are operating.
