Written by: Trevor Holmes | Trevor.Help
Plateaued in your life or Business?
Life is a series of ups and downs. One minute we feel on top of the world, and the next thing it seems as though we have hit rock bottom and wonder if we will ever find our way out. It’s like the saying ‘going around in circles’ where you feel like you end up back in the same place, the same problems and you are not making any progress.There is a theory that was developed by Professor Clare Graves who addressed this energy of change flows proposing that we move between states of chaos and stability in cycles.The diagram here demonstrates this visually:
We start out at
A where everything is going well in life
.We feel on top of the world. Perhaps we have just landed a new job, started a new relationship, or won the lottery. Everything seems perfect and we feel pretty happy about life.Then, after a short period of time, the ‘new’ wears off and we head back into normal routines and begin to feel dissatisfied. Frustration and doubt starts to creep in. At this point we are sure something is not quite right, but we’re not sure what or why. All we know is that what used to be working and keeping us happy, no longer does.
This is commonly known as a plateau.
It happens in your business, and in your personal life. We begin to experience personal issues, family strife and discord, business relationships are strained, and different levels of stress are creeping in.More often than not, we then slip into the pit of
C. This is the most frustrating part of the change cycle and is where life is pretty much overwhelmed with negative thoughts and feelings. We feel trapped, angry, and restless. There are a lot of doubts, limiting beliefs stopping you from thinking your way out. You find yourself on the ‘effect’ side of the equation where everything is happening to you – you feel powerless to action anything, and everything is everyone else’s fault.To get back up to
D can be a major struggle. But
D is the point of breakthrough. To reach
D and not slip back into your old ways, you need to break-away from the past. In NLP coaching we teach you the skills to cope through the ‘
C’ period and fast track your way through to
D and implement new strategies to keep you moving forward (and out of the pit).
D state brings with it new energy, which is constructive and unlimited.We then find ourselves at
A1 – the new normal. The change that occurred in state
D is consolidated, and the world outside of us, our external environment is perfectly controlled by the coping mechanisms learnt during the change cycle.Individually we are back on top of the game, the family is harmonious… society is filling the needs of the people.
This is a universal model of change.
Each person is going through this constantly throughout their lives.However, the problems really set in when you don’t get hold of the strategies and learn the lessons you need to, to make it to
D and
A1. A lot of people get stuck going around in circles between
B and
C.Hoping that life will get better without any actual change is ineffective.Living like that is like climbing a ladder. You climb 3 rungs and find you can’t go any further. Things become
B then
C.You then start to think that if you jump across to another ladder (i.e. a new job, relationship, location etc.) that you will start at rung 3 and keep climbing, but as you know, you actually start at the bottom of the new ladder again.
Learningnew
strategies, clearing out old habits and removing
limiting beliefs will allow you to keep climbing higher.If you are a
leaderin business, you know that your business and the team need this constant
growthfrom you for forward momentum. Don’t get stuck at plateau. Make some serious change today and unleash an entirely new level of leadership into your organisation.
