Many of us have to deal with changes all the time, at work and at home. A friend recently recommended the book Switch by Chip Heath and Dan Heath. It’s about making changes when change is hard.

Their premise is that there are 3 parts that have to align for a change to happen. Your rational mind, emotional mind, and environment all have to go in the same direction. This easy-to-read book provides background on the brain and psychology, inspiring examples, and a summary of their tips to overcome obstacles.

A few of the nuggets that I took away from this book:

• People tend to look for a complicated solution to complex problems. It’s better to start with a simple, small action step. Early success builds motivation to keep working on the change.

• When people are not changing, it’s often because they either need more clarity on what to do or the circumstances make doing the new thing hard.

• Look for an existing success (bright spot) and use that as a model to build on.

• You don’t have to understand the whole past history of how you got to this point. You can identify an action, however small, that moves you toward the goal and start doing it.