The change formula is only the beginning of the change cycle. Do you want the change to be temporary or permanent? If permanent, this is where the 3rd foundation comes into play. The Cycle of Mastery (COM). When you look closely at the first step of the COM, you see the first three steps of the Change Formula. They are the attitude adjustment process. Since Attitude is the ‘foundation’ of everything, it has to start with what kind of attitude you have toward the skill, habit or action you want to create or take. The end of that attitude adjustment process is an open and ready one with a willingness to be shown how to best accomplish whatever you want to become a permanent part of your habit pattern. Now, with the right attitude, you are ready to learn new ideas, concepts or methods of how to best accomplish your objective.
Please pay close attention to the next thoughts because they will explain why so many folks do not improve in the areas they desire and think they are working so hard at. “Learning does not change performance.” No matter how much you learn, read, study, absorb from books, videos, and other educational tools, you will never improve. Just because you KNOW something different, doesn’t mean you can DO something different. Change in behavior to create long-term performance change requires action on top of your new attitude and the knowledge you just acquired. Knowing doesn’t do it, doing does it. And to know how to practice consistently doing the right things right, you need a coach.
The Coach will save you time, effort and money by not letting you develop the wrong habits from the beginning. S/he will ensure you start out right and develop the correct ‘muscle-memory for whatever it is you want to accomplish. The permanence comes from repetition. Some say it takes 21 days to create a habit. We say it takes at least 21-successful-consecutive-efforts to begin the habit-creating process. If during your practice you revert back to doing it incorrectly, the process of 21 should start over. That is the other reason for the coach–to prevent backtracking and wasting precious time. We will end this by confirming the idea of mastery requiring 10,000 hours. But, even if you do want to invest that kind of time on something you want to accomplish in your life, the COM is the best way for you to do it.
