The other day I watched “The King’s Speech”, which is based on
the true story of King George VI of England. The movie shares much wisdom with
us how to make difficult decisions and create positive changes in the face of
uncertainty and adversity.
After the death of his father King George V (Michael Gambon) and
the scandalous abdication of his brother King Edward VIII (Guy Pearce),
“Bertie” (Colin Firth) reluctantly assumes the throne. He has suffered
from a debilitating speech impediment all his life and has lived in the shadow
of his charismatic brother.
With his country on the brink of war and in desperate need of a
leader, his wife, Elizabeth (Helena Bonham Carter), the future Queen Mother,
arranges for her husband to see an eccentric speech therapist, Lionel Logue
(Geoffrey Rush). Plagued by a dreaded stammer and self-doubt about being king,
Bertie takes a leap of faith and delves into an unorthodox course of treatment,
which eventually develops into a friendship between the two men. With the
support and encouragement of his family, his government and Logue, the King
overcomes his stammer and finds a voice to deliver a radio-address that
inspires the whole nation and unites his people during the war.
Most of us resist change. It's easier to find a 100 excuses why
something won't work than to deal with the challenges associated with change.
"The King's Speech" movie offers 10 important
lessons for those of us who have been dreaming of
making important changes in life but not yet seen the results.
1) You need to want to make a change.
Any change starts from within. Find your voice. What do you
stand for?
Having a clear purpose and defining your own reasons why the change is needed will fire up your motivation and activate your resourcefulness.
Having a clear purpose and defining your own reasons why the change is needed will fire up your motivation and activate your resourcefulness.
2) Make Commitment.
Making a commitment is making a deal with yourself that no
matter what happens, you will implement the required change. Are you
“interested” or “committed”? There are two excellent strategies to commit
to change. First is putting a date in the diary when you wish bring your vision
to life. You may also wish to circle the dates for the intermediate steps.
Second – and this is particularly powerful - make some sort of a public
announcement (eg. Facebook) about the date of your anticipated change.
3) There are no quick fixes.
Any worthwhile change is a process, which consists of small
steps. Instead of doubting your abilities due to lack of fast results, view it
as “work in progress”. The definition of “progress” in Merriam-Webster
dictionary is “the process of improving or developing something over a period
of time”.
4) Be willing to ask for help and accept it.
Asking for help takes courage. Accepting help is a sign of deep
self-awareness of your limitations, and is a strength in itself.When God couldn't save The King, The Queen turned to someone who
could.
5) Find a trusted mentor.
No matter who you are, how old you are or what is your
profession, a good mentor can be an invaluable asset. A mentor can give
you the benefit of his or her perspective, wisdom and experience. S/he can help
you see a situation in a different light. A mentor can also help you define
your career path, plan transition(s) ensuring that you don’t lose focus and
that you keep going even when you become distracted by the day-to-day
pressures.
It takes leadership to confront a nation's fear. It takes a mentor to conquer your own.
It takes leadership to confront a nation's fear. It takes a mentor to conquer your own.
6) Surround yourself with supportive people.
When you face any transition, you are likely to be fighting with
the self-doubt ‘inner critic’. Many other people will doubt you too. In doing
so, they may be projecting their own insecurities on to you, which has nothing
to do with how capable you are to do what you say you want to do. That is why
it is important to lessen contact with negative people who drain you of energy
and instead to surround yourself with a “power team” of people who “get you”,
who believe in you and who share your purpose and passion.
7) Be willing to be uncomfortable.
Moving from your “comfort zone” into the unknown can be scary.
You need to have faith that any temporary discomfort will be far outweighed by
the wisdom of the lessons learnt in transition, as well as the joy of reaching
the ultimate goal.
8) Prepare “to fail” and to be imperfect.
Any transition is a bumpy road. The only real “failure” is not trying. The perfectionalists amongst us tend to
delay making decisions or taking action, because we are desperate to always
make “the right decision” and take “the right action”. Procrastination may seem
benign but the time spent “thinking” is the time you could have spent figuring
out what is “right” by doing and receiving real-life feedback. How about
viewing success as a persistent pursuit of
a worthy goal?
Perfection is never complete. Instead of being perfect, aspire
to be EXCELLENT.
9) Make it about other people.
When King George VI shifted his focus from his ego to leading
his people through war, the process of change acquired a new meaning. What
would it take for you to be the best you could possibly be for the people you
most care about?
10) Express gratitude.
Even the King expressed his gratitude to those who believed in
him! People who are a part of your journey of transition will feel appreciated
if you tell them what their support means to you. Don’t wait for the ultimate
success. Nurture your supporters along the journey, and remember that gratitude
has a magic power to come back to you in the most unexpected ways and
opportunities.
The King overcame his speech impediment to become the nation’s
inspiration. Is there anything you know you should do that
you still haven’t done, something that if you did it, it
would totally transform your life and would improve the lives of others too?
It’s your turn to find your voice and make that change.
-Evgenia Galinskaya
