For a month now a few of you have committed to making a change that will have you coming out on top personally or professionally in 2017. That resolution you put in place, that change you promised to make... Did you ever think about how you were going to present this change? How do you prepare your team this change?

Preparing for change is something that we all need know how to do.

"Progress isn't possible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything."
- George Bernard Shaw

Change is a necessity in life, if we always want the same things we're going to get board and the possibility for growth is almost unseen. When we contemplate change there are a few things to do especially when you're leading your organization to change.

First and foremost, identify the road blocks while you're in the planning stages. Let me repeat that, while you're in the planning stages of change identify the road blocks. Many times we will rush into the excitement of new things and forget to identify these road blocks, leading to a back fire. If you can satisfy those challenges in your mind before you present these changes to your team, they'll be a lot more receptive.

The next thing is to bring it out in the open. Bring your team into the process, even if it is in the later stages of planning, bring them into it. One of the reasons why people don't buy into change is because they don't feel involved in the decision, they don't feel like they have a say. In reality, they very well may not have a decision. But, that doesn't mean we can't empower them to give you feed back on the decision.

Lastly, explain the benefit. Explain the reason as to why this might be beneficial to everyone in the organization. If you present a reason to why they'll want to accept this change, it will help when trying to get everybody on board.

"Change is the law of nature and if you don't keep up with the pace of change you're going to be left behind."

It's the first of February and how many of you have kept up with those goals and changes you've set in place on January 1st. What road blocks have you ran into or overcome?

Ultimately, what does this change mean to you? What's the benefit to you? Do you remember going through the process of planning that we went through a couple months ago, on how to plan for the outcome you want?

Here's a chart that might jog your memory:

Rewire your brain to the benefits of this change! Start in the middle, start with the ultimate outcome, move over to what you're going to do to accomplish this outcome, then decide on why, what that purpose is. The purpose is the meat of the process, this change you're making personally or professionally, needs to make your bones ache just thinking about it not being accomplished. Once you've planned this out, preparing your team for change in your organization will become a breeze, because you'll believe 100% in the decision you're making.

Believe in yourself. Believe in the change. Believe in the power of a purpose!