The Three A's Of Change

A to the Third Power

I know, we were told there wouldn't be much math involved. Most realtors can only calculate 6% of any given number faster than you can say super-cali-fragil…you get it. 

Well, to keep it simple for majority of us, let's talk about a formula known as “A to the Third Power” or “The Three A’s of Change” 

In Robert Greene’s, “Human Nature”, you learn that most of us are hardwired to be competitive. Most of human history has been rough in terms of competition and survival. Imagine having to defend your small city with swords from a neighboring city who you’ve been at war with for decades all the while trying to find food for your family everyday. 

In a lot of ways, technology, society, and culture have made our lives a lot easier. We went quickly from Blockbuster, to Netflix, to streaming on Youtube, to same-day deliveries from Amazon. What happened to the competition our ancestors faced? In many respects, innovation has doubled and business competition may be as high as ever. But what about at home? With all this convenience, where’s the incentive for us to personally grow? 

With a mindset of growth, consider this formula. Note: for this to work correctly, it must be done in this specific order:

A to the first power: Awareness 

As the saying goes, “the most important conversations you’ll ever have are the ones you have with yourself.” Self awareness is the ability to step back and take a look at how your behaviors, thoughts, actions and words align with your internal standards or not. Can you do this? If so, how often? If not, what will it take for a good honest look in the mirror to happen?

A to the second power: Awareness x Acceptance 

Without awareness, it’s not possible to accept what you don’t know about yourself. Only after awareness, comes the act of acceptance. Notice I say “act”. It’s not a feeling. On the contrary. In spite of your feelings comes true acceptance. It’s your reaction to life or change, that is in your control. 

A to the third power: Awareness x Acceptance x Action 

Like anything else, there is a process to action. We set out to achieve and find out the hard way that if it were easy, everyone would do it. What’s the main difference between those that take action and those who don’t? Successful people know who they are, they’ve accepted whatever hand life has dealt them, and THEN they took action without doubt of failure. They physically pencil in their goals and are efficient with their time. Do you operate this way? If so, then the grind will be staying consistent. If not, how much pain needs to happen to you before you adopt this formula of change?