Friday, March 2, 2012

What is a Paradigm Shift?


What is a paradigm shift?

First lets look at what a paradigm is, before we can learn how to shift one.
A paradigm could be described as a model or pattern, a template or a standard, or an archetype. 

It is usually applied to a certain way of seeing or doing things. 

A paradigm could be a habit.  People are creatures of habit, we tend to do the same things, in the same way for many years and often it is only through chance or crisis that we are willing change our ways. 
A Starbucks manager recently shared with me that as part of their (usually) excellent customer service they rely of the fact that people have a habitual way of being. Their customers usually come in at the same time of day and ask for the same drink and that is how their staff get to know the customers names and preferred drink in a  very short time. Hence the friendly warm familiar greeting when you enter a Starbucks... that is… if you are a regular at a specific store.
Societies can have a certain a belief system or paradigm.  Prior to Roger Bannister in 1954, no one had ever run a 4 minute mile and the prevailing belief in society was that it was not humanly possible.  But on that particular day the paradigm was shifted... 
(ref: http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/6/newsid_2511000/2511575).
A paradigm shift comes when science or an individual discovers a better, more efficient or different way to get the same or better result.
A classic story about a paradigm shift is the 4 minute mile. Because one man changed society’s perception of what was possible it opened the way for so many other people to also beat the 4 minute mile barrier.
Another example of a paradigm shift is when the digital watches were invented. For hundreds of years watches were made with small metal moving pieces. The way people read or told the time was to look at the watch face, which had numbers or markings from 1 through to 12, and then there were 5 small markings between each number indicating the minutes, and the small hand (or the short pointy thing) that moved around the clock face, pointed to the hour and the big hand (the long pointy usually metal thing) pointed to the minutes past that hour. This way we could tell when it was 15, 30 etc... minutes past the hour, or 12 minutes to the next hour etc.


And then one day someone invented an electronic digital clock and the way humanity read time shifted... But it didn’t eliminate the watches it just gave us more choices.


There are other paradigms shifts that will eliminate old ways of doing things...
When the horseless carriage was invented, it paved the way for cars and other motor travel that have eliminated using horses as transport, for most of the world.
These paradigm shifts are beneficial all for our ease of life, growth and evolution.




What about personal paradigm shifts?
What does it take for us to change our ways to invite growth and enjoy better circumstance in our lives? 
With a Vision Board You have a blank canvas to paint the pictures you desire
Personal change is often the most difficult. In order to change one must first be able to perceive a better outcome or result. And that is why I like to start with a vision board. A visual representation of your desired result.   




If we can first see in our minds eye and then clearly on a Vision Board, what we want, then we can imagine and discover or comprehend a different way to get us what we want.  
There’s and old saying…
 “if you always do what you have always done, then you will always get what you have always got.”
It may seem blatantly obvious, when you put it that way, but change can be hard for many people.
There is a story about a farmer who was using Oxen to pull his plough through his field to till the soil and the one day someone brought him a tractor.  The farmer could not understand the benefit of the tractor…  

WHY?
You might ask.  Because the farmer had hooked the oxen up to the tractor and it was really heavy to pull. He didn’t know that he was meant to put the plough behind the tractor and drive the tractor. The tractor was to replace the oxen... not the plough.  
Where in your life are you being challenged to replace an old way of doing things, an old way of thinking an old belief system that no longer serves you.


Where are you being invited to step up, to become more than who you are now in order to achieve your dreams and the success you dream of?
In order to achieve your hearts desires what paradigms need to be shifted to give you a new and better, more efficient way to live your best life today?
With guidance, support and patience you can shift gears, change paradigms and live a full and happy, prosperous life.


To learn more about Vision Boards visit: www.visionboards.net
For Life, Energy and Business Coaching visit: www.visionarylifecoach.org
To read more about Barbara Pellegrino visit: www.visionarylifecoach.org

Love,
Barbara
Celebrating YOUR Success!
Helping Busy People Achieve Their Dreams Quickly
Barbara Pellegrino 
Vision Board Success Trainer
Transformational Life Coach, ACC, CPC, CEC
Master Practitioner Energy Leadership
NLP Facilitator, Accelerated Learning Trainer,  
Speaker, Author.









http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/6/newsid_2511000/2511575http://www.visionboards.net