change – verb – Make or become different.
(Source: Oxford Dictionaries)

I’ve been thinking about change and progress recently. I read the two quotes illustrated below on my morning commute and it got me thinking about change. How do we effectively bring about change? How do we measure progress? How do we set goals that ensure progress is in the right direction?

We recently adopted a puppy. Bruno’s been with us for 5 and a half weeks and has changed an enormous amount in that time. There have been obvious physical changes, but the changes in temperament and sociability are just as apparent.

Here he is on his first day with us:

“You know, I’m all for progress. It’s change I object to.” Mark Twain

And here he is lazing in the sun this weekend, just 5 weeks later:

“Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.” Leo Tolstoy

The other significant change you can see in these photos is the state of the grass! We’ve had virtually no rain since he arrived and the lawn has turned from a lush green to a dry and dusty yellow.

There is change happening all around us all the time. We are impacted by changes in our environment and by the things we expose ourselves to. If we want the change to be positive progress in the right direction, then I think we have to be mindful, we have to set objectives and we have to take small steps towards the goals. If we aren’t, then the influences we expose ourselves to will take us down a path we haven’t planned for.

As we train our puppy it is so clear that he responds to positive stimulus very quickly. What is also apparent is that a lot of good hard training can be so quickly undone by the wrong stimulus.

Take care what you are training yourself to be, and let me know what you think about change in the comments.