Creating Change by Design™: How to Stay Consistent During Change
Dear Friend,
Last month we talked about awareness.
Recognizing the patterns and behaviors that have quietly helped create where you are today.
But awareness opens the door.
Consistency is what walks you through it.
If you’ve ever searched for how to stay consistent during change, this is where I want to challenge the traditional conversation.
Lasting transformation isn’t created because you had one breakthrough, attended one great workshop, downloaded another app, or felt incredibly motivated on Monday morning.
It happens when a new way of thinking, acting, and responding is practiced consistently enough that it begins to become your new normal.
“Whatever You Did to My Brain, You Have to Bring It Here.”
Several years ago, during COVID, I worked with a senior executive navigating enormous pressure and uncertainty.
Like so many leaders during that period, she was being asked to make important decisions when nobody had all the answers.
We didn’t begin by trying to change everything around her.
We started with what was happening inside her.
Her thinking.
Her responses.
Her patterns.
Her ability to pause before reacting.
Her confidence in making a decision and standing in it.
And then we practiced.
Again.
And again.
And again.
Over time, trust was established—between her and me, and within herself.
Consequently, she made three significant career moves.
Her compensation grew dramatically.
She moved into greater levels of responsibility—eventually becoming President and then CEO.
But the phone call I remember most wasn’t about her title or salary.
She was entering another major organization and had been charged with helping lead change.
She called me and essentially said:
“Whatever you did to my brain, you have to bring it here for my team.”
I smiled.
Because she drank the Kool-Aid. She now had the knowing, not simply the knowledge, and she understood that transformation starts on the inside.
And when it’s practiced consistently, it begins to influence everyone around us.
Inside her team, inside the organization, and inside each individual who gains the tools and support to re-establish safety and trust, something begins to change.
People, teams, and ultimately companies can begin to move at the speed of TRUST.
Motivation Gets You Started. Consistency Changes You.
We love motivation because motivation feels good.
But motivation is a feeling.
Consistency is a structure.
There will be mornings when you don’t feel motivated.
There will be meetings when you want to return to an old behavior.
There will be difficult conversations when the old version of you feels much easier.
That’s where transformation actually happens.
I say this often:
Persistence melts resistance.
Can you tell I really like a good memory hook? That is because our brains are literally overwhelmed and inundated. We need to remember.
Every time you practice the new behavior instead of automatically returning to the old one, you’re strengthening the pattern you actually want.
That’s true personally.
It’s also true organizationally.
AI Will Change Our Systems. People Will Determine Whether the Change Works.
We’re living through extraordinary technological change.
AI is reshaping jobs, workflows, and expectations faster than many people can emotionally process.
While leadership may be excited about efficiency, someone on the team may quietly be wondering:
“Am I still valuable here?”
We cannot ignore that question.
You can have the greatest technology strategy in the world, but if the people responsible for adopting it don’t trust leadership or don’t feel secure enough to learn, question, experiment, and adapt, transformation gets stuck.
That’s why I call people the Human Infrastructure of an organization.
Technology may be infrastructure.
Systems may be infrastructure.
But people are the Human Infrastructure.
When that infrastructure is weakened by fear, burnout, mistrust, or constant change, performance eventually reflects it.
I believe the organizations that thrive in the years ahead won’t simply be the ones that adopt AI fastest.
They’ll be the organizations that intentionally develop their people while developing their technology.
Consistency Is How Culture Is Built
Culture eats strategy for breakfast. Repeat that sentence again.
Culture isn’t created during an annual retreat.
It isn’t created by the mission statement hanging on the wall.
Culture is built through what happens repeatedly.
Do leaders listen?
Do people keep their commitments?
Can someone make a mistake without immediately needing to protect themselves?
Do we say one thing and reward another?
Can employees respectfully challenge an idea?
Is wellness something we talk about—or something people are actually permitted to practice?
Those repeated behaviors become culture.
And culture eventually influences performance.
Sheila’s 45-Second Reset™
You don’t need an hour to change your day.
Sometimes 45 seconds is enough.
When stress begins taking over:
- Stop.
- Place both feet firmly on the floor.
- Drop your shoulders.
- Take one slow breath in.
- Allow your exhale to be longer.
- Then ask yourself:
“What is the next right action I can consistently repeat?”
Not ten actions.
One.
Do that.
Tomorrow, do it again.
Ready to Create Change by Design?
You don’t have to have everything figured out before taking your next step. Sometimes one conversation is where clarity begins.
Schedule a complimentary Transformational Discovery Call with Sheila Brody to explore where you are today, what may be keeping you stuck, and the intentional next steps that can help move you forward.
Schedule Your Complimentary Discovery Call
Transformation is Change by Design, Not by Default.™
