Lesson From Improv Comedy-Make Your Success Automatic!
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Have you ever seen a person who easily and effortlessly does things that you absolutely struggle with? Don't you just hate them? Maybe they always choose the healthy food option, always keep their home clean and organized, or always get their work done by 5PM and free up their schedule to have a fun and free evening and weekend. In any case, for those of us who struggle with some of these things, being in the presence of these "naturals" can be frustrating.
It's not the fact that these people succeed at these things, but rather that they make it look so easy. Of course, if you think about it, there are probably things in your own life that you do easily that make other people jealous. For me, I suppose that thing would be improv comedy. I can play many improv games pretty well without a whole lot of trying.
So what's the difference? Why are there some things that come easily to us and some that we struggle with? Don't cop out on me here and say, "some people are born with certain gifts." I don't buy it...
The real difference is that for some things in our lives we have conditioned ourselves to react automatically to things. That is, we don't think about our response, we just respond in a powerful way.
What allows a good improviser to play an improv comedy game easily where non-improvisers might fail is that the improviser has conditioned himself to respond automatically to the unexpected events that happen on stage. That's why talented improvisers don't freeze up on stage. In the same way, what will dictate your level of success in the things you are trying to achieve is not how well you plan it all out in advance, but how you respond automatically, in the moment when you have to take action.
There's a traditional learning model that demonstrates the importance of making things obvious. The model states that any time you learn something new, there are four stages you go through. Here are the four stages, along with the example of learning to drive;
1) Unconscious Incompetence
"You don't know what you don't know." You are not even aware of what you need to learn. You may not realize that there is a need to change. In the driving example, you can't drive, and you don't know you can't drive. You may not even know what a car is.
2) Conscious Incompetence
"You know what you don't know." In this stage, you are aware of the skills you lack, but you have not learned them yet. When it comes to driving, this is the stage where you see people driving, know there is a skill called "driving," wish you could drive, but can't.
3) Conscious Competence
"You know what you know." At this point, you have acquired the desired skill. You can now drive, but you have to think about it. When you get behind the wheel, you actively go through checklists, and pay attention to *everything* as you drive. If you're driving a stick shift, you think or talk your way through the steps to shift gears.
4) Unconscious Competence
"You don't know what you know." At this stage, the skill is so ingrained that you don't think about it anymore. When you sit in the car to drive, you just drive - you no longer consciously think about it.
The challenge for most of us in achieving the success we deserve is that we get stuck in stage 3. Stage 3 is fine, as long as it is a step on to stage 4. If you get stuck at stage 3, then you will forever be "working" on your goal, and the unexpected events in your life will knock you off your path.
Our goal should not be to achieve success, but rather to develop the habits that make success automatic.
For example, imagine that your goal is to lose weight (a timely goal at the beginning of the year). Going through the learning stages:
1) Unconscious Incompetence
You probably don't even realize you are out of shape, and have no idea what good exercise and nutrition are.
2) Conscious Incompetence
You realize that you should lose weight, but you don't know how. You don't know how to exercise and eat properly.
3) Conscious Competence
You have learned how to eat properly, how to count calories, read labels, etc. You also know how to exercise properly. However, you need to think about it every time you are in the store or gym.
4) Unconscious Competence
At this point, eating properly and exercising regularly is just something you do. You don't think about it, and you naturally make the right choices.
From this example, it should be obvious that the greatest likelihood for success come when you reach stage four. At stage three, since your habits aren't automatic yet, you will still slip and fall back to your old ways. It's not until your competency becomes unconscious, or automatic, that real, effortless success happens.
Most people, unfortunately, get stuck at stage three. They go on a diet, force themselves to eat well, and then, once they have lost the weight, they revert back to their old behaviors (which are still automatic). The people who maintain long term weight loss are the ones who move into stage four and make healthy eating automatic.
The question that comes up of course is, "how do I make a habit automatic?"
There is no shortcut or easy way. The four steps above represent a process. You step through them one at a time. That means that you will first be in stage 3 before you get to stage 4.
Here are five tips to help you make your habits automatic:
1) Think permanent.
Too often, we go into a habit change with a short term mind set. Dieting, organizing, cleaning, etc. Whatever it is, if you think of your change as a short term process, you have no motivation to move to stage 4. Think of a lifestyle change as opposed to a short term goal.
2) Think smaller.
If you try to think huge *and* permanent you will get so overwhelmed that you will never begin. You should pick the biggest change you feel you can realistically make for the long term without getting overwhelmed. Once that's automatic, pick another one.
3) Think one at a time.
Similar to #2, don't try to instill too many changes at once. You'll never make it.
4) Catch yourself.
This is the big one. When you are in stage 3, it is easy to clip back into stage 2. You know what you should be doing, but you don't do it (i.e. on the the way home you stop and get a super sized meal from McDonalds - with desert!). To really make something automatic, you must break the old habit and keep working in stage 3 until it becomes habitual. This is another reason to start small. it is better to pick a small change and not slip than pick a big one and repeatedly slip.
5) Don't' beat yourself up if you slip.
Everyone messes up once in a while. Pick yourself up and move on. However, if you continually slip, then you should probably reevaluate and pick a smaller change.
I encourage you to go out and pick one of the goal you currently have and ask yourself, "what habit or response, if I made automatic, would have the biggest positive impact in moving me towards this goal?" Then, go about the task of moving through the steps of making it automatic.
Avish Parashar is a dynamic professional speaker who shows organizations and individuals how to get what they want using the Art and Science of improv comedy. He weaves together humorous stories, witty observations, and interactive exercises from improvisational comedy to get people laughing, learning, and motivated! Avish is most commonly called upon to deliver programs on Motivation, Sales, and Communication
For more free articles, downloads, and resources, visit http://www.AvishParashar.com
To learn how to apply the powerful principles of improv comedy to your own business or life visit http://www.ImprovforEveryone.com
