Even elite leaders, top CEOs struggle with consistency of improving their habits. That's something that blew my mind and didn’t surprise me at the same time.
“And so over the course of a year, everyone, the entire cohort, got better and stayed that way. So then we did two things. We… half the cohort dropped out, and were no longer called by me, and half continued. Well, six months later, guess what happened?
The six… the people who continued [asking daily questions prompted by Lisa's daily call] with it stayed better, and the people who did not continue with it got worse. They did not stay that way.”
This is what Lisa Broderick, a senior executive, a data scientist, a co-author of the book “Permanence: become the person you want to be and stay that way” shared with me on our podcast episode that just came out on Change Wired.
Leaders, top CEOs, high achievers struggle with new habits just like anyone else without a system!
People with resources, intelligence, ambition.
Not because they lacked willpower or were lazy.
Not because they weren’t serious about the change.
Because they have a human brain.
A brain that:
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Forgets what matters when the urgent gets loud, when cognitive capacity is overloaded.
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Conserves energy unless there’s positive, consistent reinforcement or immediate negative consequences.
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Defaults to old habits unless the new ones are easier, visible, and tracked.
Leaders struggle with consistency just like everyone else.
The difference between doing and not isn’t motivation.
It’s structure.
What I’ve learned from Lisa and her research with Marshall Goldsmith, asking some TOP CEOs every day questions that start with “Did I do my best to…[important area of improvement]?
One of the best ways to help a human do their best, despite all the circumstances, is helping them reflect on their personal mission and their capacity to create change.
This 2-minute practice of asking the right, meaningful, engaging questions, what Lisa Broderick and Marshall Goldsmith call “The Daily Questions Method” is designed to do just that.
Remind strivers, achievers, leaders of their capacity to put effort into something important and see it grow, changing their life, work and people around them. When done daily, it creates change that stays.
Over to you dear reader,
Have you tried using some daily reminders or reflections to keep your desired change top of mind?
PS Change Wired podcast episode with Lisa Broderick and more details on the Daily Questions Method is available now on all podcast platforms and here
