Think It. Do It. Change It.: How to Dream Big, Act Bold, and Get the Results You Want

by Ilja Grzeskowitz, Jeffrey Hayzlett (With)

Overview

We live in tough times, and it seems many are unhappy with their circumstances in society, at work, or at home. Instead of taking action, we complain and wait for someone else to do something about it. Instead of changing ourselves, we hope others will take responsibility. Instead of actively living our dreams, we wait for the perfect moment. Unfortunately, that moment will never come.

Author Ilja Grzeskowitz has declared war on this passive wait-and-see approach. In Think it. Do it. Change it., he offers a plan for overcoming the fear of change. Grzeskowitz, who helps organizations all over the world to create a culture of change, details his step-by-step approach to dreaming big, acting boldly, and getting the results you want. He shows you how motivation really works, why the fear of change is actually your best friend, and which two words have the potential to change your entire life.

Grzeskowitz reveals the biggest motivational myths, announces the comeback of values, and shows you the most important characteristic that will help you to actively implement the necessary changes in business and in life. Think it. Do it. Change it. helps you live a life characterized by possibilities rather than limitations.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781491787182
Publisher:	iUniverse, Incorporated
Publication date:	01/13/2016
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	182
File size:	402 KB

About the Author

Ilja Grzeskowitz (spoken GRAESCH –KO –WITZ) is an award winning keynote speaker, who has given presentations in eight countries on three continents. The change management expert inspires, influences and motivates leaders, entrepreneurs and employees to combine innovative thinking with taking massive action. Some of his clients include BMW, Lufthansa, Telekom and Zalando. He loves to travel all over the world and passionately plays golf. But just in case you’re wondering, he is a loving father of two beautiful girls.

The bestselling author of six books studied economics and marketing in Greifswald, Mannheim and Hamburg and held guest lecturing positions at the Berlin School of Law and Economics and the SRH University in Berlin. Before he founded his own company in the year 2009, he was the youngest store manager in Germany’s largest retail corporation and was in charge of ten department stores all over the country for Karstadt, Hertie, Wertheim and IKEA.

Today he helps organizations all over the world to create a culture of change. It’s no wonder, because this topic has always been the central theme of his life. At the peak of his corporate career, he was regularly fighting at difficult locations, and, together with his teams, he had to find ways to achieve excellent results even under tough circumstances. The experiences he had at that time are a vital part of his speeches, workshops and consultings today. In his programs, he teaches his audiences how to recognize and use the huge opportunities lying in every change. The media called him, “Germany’s change expert No.1.”

This book was published by GABAL global English Editions by GABAL Publishing

Who We Are: GABAL provides proven practical knowledge and publishes media products on the topics of business, success, and life. With over 600 experienced, international authors from various industries and education, we inspire businesses and people to move forward.

Read an Excerpt

Think it. Do it. Change it.

How to Dream Big, Act Bold, and Get the Results You Want

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By Ilja Grzeskowitz, Sylvia Corbisiero

iUniverse

Copyright © 2016 Ilja Grzeskowitz
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4917-8719-9

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CHAPTER 1

Stop Waiting –

Why the Perfect Moment Will Never Come

"And I think it's gonna be a long, long, time, 'til touchdown brings me 'round again to find, I'm not the man they think I am at home. Ah, no no no, I'm a rocket man."

- Elton John, Rocket Man

It's Monday, June 16th, 2014. I am sitting at the Panke, a small river north of Berlin, and am enjoying my day. There is not a cloud in the sky and the temperature has already reached seventy-seven degrees at eleven o'clock in the morning. Since I have been traveling almost nonstop for speeches lately, I am using my first free day in weeks to relax a little. And as I am letting the mental images of the past experiences pass by, my eyes catch a piece of wood that is floating with the current of the water. This observation is fascinating me. Every movement is more or less random and the course is determined by outside influences. From time to time, this piece of wood gets caught on a rock or a plant, until it disappears from my view, caught by a faster rapid.

And I don't remember exactly what it was, but in that moment I had to think about how many people live their life according to this pattern. You float around more or less randomly, without having a clear goal or a specific vision. You'd rather wait and adjust, instead of actively creating your future. This pattern of leading a passive life has grave consequences. Everyone relies on someone else to take responsibility. Nobody is brave enough to make decisions anymore. Nobody wants to make mistakes. Course, direction and speed of your own life are subject to a fatal arbitrariness, and, at some point, you come to terms with this discontent that is undoubtedly going to occur. You would rather manage the status quo than take destiny into your own two hands and initiate the necessary changes yourself.

I want to give you a typical example. I was recently leading a workshop with managers of a middle-management level who were responsible for a branch of a big company, with revenues in the double digits of millions. I know many executives who would have given their left eye for a job like this. But the persons acting thought of their own situation as a huge burden. Had there not been a definition of standstill, you could have found it there, live and in full color. The cause for this was, mostly, that the former branch manager died a few years ago, and he had made all decisions cordially, but ultimately, patriarchally. Everyone involved got comfortable with the situation and everything worked more or less smoothly.

But even though the responsibilities were theoretically distributed across several shoulders, after the death of the former boss, a treacherous void arose. The outcome was fatal. Projects were left behind, important customers were lost and, all in all, an atmosphere of uncertainty reigned, which paralyzed all employees. And the reaction of the gathered managment team made it clear to me, once again, how high the need is for people who lead by example and with a high intrinsic motivation. Because when I asked, "Who was responsible for the big and small changes in the company in the past few months?" the question was naturally answered by one of the present managers with, "Well, nobody. We didn't have anyone who could have made these decisions!"

Are You Still Hesitating or Are You Taking Action?

How about you, my dear readers, how many times have you found yourself in a situation where you thought, Somebody definitely needs to do something with this? How many times would you have liked to have changed something but relied on someone else taking care of it? How many times were you dissatisfied with a certain area in your life, but you hesitated for so long that everything remained how it's always been in the end? Trust me, I know this behavior all too well from my own past. I truly was an expert in passing off responsibilities, and hoping that others would make the right decisions for me. But one day I realized where this attitude had led me, namely a life characterized by external direction and discontent. And by no means was it easy for me to free myself from this behavior pattern and take full responsibility for all my ideas, decisions and actions.

Because I know what I am talking about, this book is a matter that's very dear to my heart. My current profession as a keynote speaker and change consultant gives me the privilege of working with various types of people. And aside from social, economical and hierarchical status, there is one thing I observe almost on a daily basis. With a fatalistic peace of mind, the majority relies on others to show them the way and to make the necessary decisions for them — all because of the widely publicized misbelief that you need a title, money or permission to successfully initiate change. But this way of thinking has grave consequences, because, slowly, you forget how to take responsibility, to change actively and use your own potential to it's fullest. It always breaks my heart when I meet people who possess unique talents, amazing abilities and that are blessed with an admirable creativity, and they just let these gifts waste away.

And just in case you should think that there are only a select few who are privileged enough to have these kind of gifts, then I'd like to share one of my deepest beliefs with you. Inside every single person, a huge potential lies dormant that is just waiting to be brought to the surface and be used. And it doesn't matter what profession you are currently in, what title you have, or which starting point you are beginning from. It also does not matter if you are a successful business owner, or a housewife and mother. The one and only thing that matters is whether you are ready to continue evolving. The world is waiting to be moved, namely by you. "But Ilja," you might object, "how can I change my business, my surroundings or even the world? I can't even find the time to organize my everyday life properly. Besides, I don't have any connections, or enough power or money."

Believe me; I can understand these objections because I hear them nearly every single day. But I decided a long time ago not to accept these excuses any longer. Because even if you have been told on a regular basis that those people who move the world have extraordinary skills at their disposal, this could not be further from the truth. Quite the contrary, it's always people like you who steadily put the biggest dents in the universe. It's people like you who make a difference with their ideas and innovations. It's people like you who make the world a better place every day through their decisions and actions. So start doing it and stop waiting for your boss, your colleagues, or your social environment to give you permission. All that you need to awaken your personal motivation to change you already carry inside of you. You doubt this statement? Then let us look at the following factors together, that nobody but you can influence.

Ten things that you can influence at any time, even under difficult conditions

1. You can go through life with a positive attitude each day.

2. You can be a role model to other people every day through your thoughts, decisions and actions.

3. You can complete your work with passion, ambition and motivation each day.

4. You can work on your own personal development every day.

5. You can use every day to dream big and make bold choices.

6. You can make other people happy every day.

7. You can make sure your colleagues, customers and co-workers follow your lead through high standards and expectations.

8. You can give everything, every single day, to be better than you were yesterday.

9. You can take another step on the way to greatness every day.

10. You can use your talents, your abilities and your experiences every day to become a better version of yourself.

Do you see what I mean? You don't need a title, money or permission from others for any of these things. It's all up to you. And nobody expects you to save the entire world right away (I think this is best left to Eric Clapton). No, you should start with yourself, at your workplace, in your family and your environment. One of my favorites quotes is from Mother Teresa, who once said "If each of us would only clean their own doorstep, the world would be clean." Right she is, this remarkable lady. Change always begins on the inside and then comes to the light through our actions.

If you have internalized this basic rule, a whole new world is going to open up in front of you. Outside circumstances, external events or other people are not the starting point of changes in your life. If you want to be, do or have something different, the origin always lies within yourself. You have to be the spark that ignites the big fire of change. And that's exactly why this book has the title Think it. Do it. Change it. No matter what it is that you want to change, don't wait for others, but always lead by example because your personal development and your outside results are inseparably interlocked. They follow a clear order, which, again, I will summarize for you in ten aspects.

Ten external successes that originate on the inside

1. If you grow as a person, your quality of life will also grow.

2. If you help yourself, you can also help others.

3. If you care for yourself, you can also care for others.

4. If you are motivated, you can motivate others as well.

5. If you become the best version of yourself, you can also develop the potential of others.

6. If you are inspired, you can also inspire others.

7. If you focus on chances and opportunities, your environment can also become more positive.

8. If you appreciate yourself, you will also appreciate the people around you.

9. If you build yourself up, you can build up a successful business as well.

10. If you change yourself, you can also change the world.

There are so many wonderful gifts just lying dormant inside of you, just waiting to be exalted and utilized. If you want to, you can start immediately. All you need for this is a decision, the unconditional commitment to immediately take responsibility for your results, your career and your life. And before you know it, you set off a giant domino effect that will transfer over to your co-workers, colleagues and customers. This will happen as soon as you stop waiting and boldly move forward instead, acting as a leader for your co-workers, customers and colleagues on the way. When you don't expect anything from others that you wouldn't be willing to do yourself; when you let your actions speak louder than your words; when you change yourself first — then watch how everything around you starts to change as well.

If You Don't Change, You Will Get Changed

In my book, Die Veränderungs-Formel: Aus Problemen Chancen machen (The Change Formula: Turning Problems into Chances), I put forward the theory that the successful handling of the ever-accelerating change is going to be the most important key competence of the future. Since then, a few months have passed and a look at a newspaper of your choice (or the online version, if you prefer that medium) is enough to see how much my statement has hit the mark. Society is changing, the world is spinning faster and permanent change has become a daily companion. The rules have changed and values have shifted. What was the standard yesterday can already be outdated today.

In my job as a keynote speaker and change consultant, I work in the most diverse companies and different industries. And there is one question that I get asked over and over again: "Ilja, the changes won't stop, and we've already restructured a hundred times, when is it going to get back to normal again?" To that, I usually give the following answer, "But what if this is it? What if the constant change has long become the new normal? The question today is not if you have been affected by change, but how well are you prepared for it, and how do you deal with it?"

And this is where it gets interesting. Instead of making the necessary changes, many people have specialized in waiting for the perfect moment. By doing so, they miss out on taking their career to the next level, improving the atmosphere at their workplace or making a long-standing dream become reality. The companies also haven't adjusted to the changed conditions yet. In some cases, I even get the impression that some organizations have mentally stopped in their tracks over thirty years ago. In practice, these crusty structures are often reflected through hierarchical thinking, a strict top-down leadership, and, because of this, an inevitably large amount of bureaucracy. The thinking is simple. The longer and more exotic the title listed on the manager's business card, the more power he has, as a general rule. But this mentality leads to decision paths being dragged out, responsibilities being delegated from the bottom up, and changes taking a very long time, or never happening at all.

In day-to-day business, this has huge consequences. If the executive floor doesn't make any decisions, nothing happens at all. The result? Slowly but surely, a culture of apathy starts developing, in which you lean back, wait it out and rely on someone else fixing things for you. And before you now it, you find yourself in a dilemma. While the belief manifests itself that changes without an official instruction are impossible, you're giving away your personal responsibility step by step. You forget that you have the ability to make your own decisions, question strategic developments and change yourself. You'd rather whine (usually at a very high level) about the demanding customers, the lazy colleagues or external circumstances than take the necessary steps to initiate changes yourself.

That this can be different is something I recently became very aware of, when I flew back to Berlin after a business meeting in Frankfurt. If you are a more or less frequent flyer yourself, you will know that you can sometimes get really lucky with the person sitting next to you. Emphasis on sometimes. On that particular day, I wanted to get some work done, so directly after boarding I opened my MacBook Air, and I was hoping to write a few more pages for my new book during the flight. It was a clear signal for the outside world: I want to be left alone. But the person sitting next to me did not pay any mind, because he started talking to me before the plane even took off. "So, are you flying to Berlin, too?" I really wanted to reply, "Nope, I'm getting off over Hannover!" But the ice was broken and we talked about his current job situation for almost the entire flight. He was a manager in a company that was involved in an intensive change process. And his attitude really did impress me because he said, "You know, Mr. Grzeskowitz, our situation definitely isn't easy, but I think about it like this. Even if the circumstances are tough, there are things that I can control and there are things I can't control. And I've decided to exclusively focus on the first category."

Pretty impressive, right? Could you say the same thing about yourself if I were to ask you what you focus on normally? For that matter, the choice of focus is generally quite obvious. You can't control what happens around you anyway. You can't control the changing economy, what the competition is doing or how your spouse is acting. Just view these external circumstances as a given. But you can control how you react to them at any time. And all of your energy should be used exactly for this — for the things that you can change. This attitude shift alone gives you a great deal of power, which you should consciously apply as often as you can.

Here's a practical example. A few years ago, I spent my vacation in Huntington Beach. The city is located south of LA and is mostly known for two things. Soccer legend Jürgen Klinsmann lives there and the beach is considered the surf mecca of the USA. And the local surfers have a great slogan, "You can't stop the waves, but you can learn how to ride them."

And this is exactly the mentality I am talking about. No matter how challenging the situation might seem, you always have a choice. Whether you become part of the problem or start focusing on a possible solution. Whether you feel like a victim of external circumstances or take responsibility. Whether you change actively or passively wait to see what happens around you. But what do most people do? They wait and wait and wait and only then start acting, when the outside circumstances force them to do so. And, suddenly, change has arrived, whether you like it or not. So, cross your heart, have you ever been in a situation where you thought, I wish I had taken action sooner?

(Continues...)

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Excerpted from Think it. Do it. Change it. by Ilja Grzeskowitz, Sylvia Corbisiero. Copyright © 2016 Ilja Grzeskowitz. Excerpted by permission of iUniverse.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Table of Contents

Contents

About the Author, ix,
Foreword by Jeffrey Hayzlett, xi,
Introduction: What if ...?, xiii,
Stop Waiting – Why the Perfect Moment Will Never Come, 1,
Are You Still Hesitating or Are You Taking Action?, 2,
If You Don't Change, You Will Get Changed, 6,
The End of Excuses, 12,
The Think it Do it Change it mentality, 16,
Unleash Your Inner Motivation to Change – Why Tschakka Tschakka Is a Thing of the Past, 21,
Motivation 10: The Escape from the Sabre-Toothed Tiger, 25,
Motivation 20: The Carrot and the Stick, 27,
Motivation 30: Tschakka, You Can Do It!, 29,
Motivation 40: Meaningful Change Instead of Empty Phrases, 35,
The Path of the Changemaker – Why You Should Start Doing It, 41,
Being a Leader Is Not a Title, but an Attitude, 44,
Stop Sabotaging Yourself, 48,
Everyone Can Be a Leader, 53,
The Question That Changes Everything, 56,
Do Not Fear Change – Why Your Biggest Weakness Is Also Your Greatest Strength, 61,
The Fear is Your Friend, 63,
Change with a Purpose, 68,
The Only Fear You Should Have, 72,
Intention Beats Everything, 74,
Use Your Uniqueness – Why It Pays to Be Awesome, 81,
Extraordinary Instead of Ordinary, 82,
Your Personal Declaration of Independence, 86,
The Renaissance of Values, 89,
Ten Minutes in the Olympic Stadium, 97,
The Four Pillars of Change – Why Only the Relentless Are Rewarded with Results, 103,
Say, "Oh Yeah!" To Change, 106,
Choose to Make a Decision, 108,
Are you SECSI enough?, 113,
Use the One Percent Formula, 119,
The Purpose of Life Is to Live It – Why New York Is Sometimes Right around the Corner, 125,
The New-York-Quick-Check for Lasting Changes, 129,
One Hour Makes the Difference, 134,
The Four Stages of Learning, 137,
Fire the Whiners, Know-it-alls and Grouches, 140,
Epilogue: Making History, 147,
Acknowledgments, 151,
An Offer You Can't Refuse, 153,
Bibliography, 155,