Most models of change — from corporate transformation to personal development — focus almost entirely on behavioural outcomes:
- Eat healthier.
- Exercise more.
- Communicate better.
- Stop procrastinating.
The underlying assumption is:
“If I can just change what I do, everything else will follow.”
But that’s like trying to change the branches of a tree without touching its roots.
Behaviour sits at the surface — it’s what we can see.
But beneath it lies the thinking, feelings, beliefs, and assumptions that drive it.
In short, by just focusing on behaviour we miss the richness of engaging the whole person.
Focusing on behaviour alone sometimes backfires because:
- It ignores the internal switch that must happen first.
- Creates guilt and pressure (“Why can’t I stick with this?”).
- Assumes one-size-fits-all steps, instead of individual pathways.
- Treats people as machines to be reprogrammed, not minds to be re-ignited.
I believe there is a different, better way.
I call this Switch Thinking.
As the name implies the focus is on changing or what I call Switch Thinking.
It’s fast, easy and empowering.
It starts with a switch — in your mind, your emotion, or your imagination.
Results can follow in as little as 2 minutes!
When you switch your thinking it can lead to a switch in how you feel and what you do.
For example:
You can start with Why?
Switch
Or start with Why Not?
It’s only a tiny switch but potentially have a big impact.
With ‘why’ you are engaging what I call being in Box Mode (i.e. structured, rational).
When you switch to why not you are using a different part of your brain – your Default Mode Network or what I call Ball Mode (i.e. imaginative, playful).
The Power of Switching What Has Worked Before
Most people get stuck not because they’re doing something wrong — but because they’re over-using what once worked.
A success pattern becomes a comfort trap.
The very habits that made you effective in the past can limit your adaptability now.
Switch Thinking gives you permission to say:
“That worked before — but what might work next?”
This small question reopens the future.
It allows innovation, reinvention, and personal growth to happen without rejecting your past self.
You build on what worked, rather than abandoning it.
Switch Thinking is about helping you to ‘think, feel, and see different — and new doing will follow.’
Being able to Switch your Thinking can be a new way to change.
One that is more inspiring and empowering.
For example:
- A Mindset Switch: From “I can’t” to “What if I could?”
- Perspective Switch: From seeing obstacles to noticing opportunities.
- Emotion Switch: From frustration to curiosity or confidence.
- Assumptions Switch: From “That’s how it’s always been done” to “Maybe there’s another way.”
- Imagination Switch: From repeating what worked before to creating what might work next.
These small internal shifts often lead to the biggest external results.
Because once you think, feel, or imagine differently, your behaviour naturally follows — without the strain of forcing it.
Switching What Once Worked
Ironically, what often keeps us stuck isn’t failure — it’s success.
We keep doing what once worked, long after the situation has changed.
Past success patterns become comfort zones.
Switch Thinking helps you recognise when it’s time to switch from what has worked before to what might work next.
It doesn’t reject the past; it builds on it.
You can keep the strengths of your old approach while opening space for new possibilities.
For example:
Take two minutes right now and think of something you’d like to change — big or small.
It might be a habit, a situation, a reaction, or even a way you talk to yourself.
Now, instead of asking “What should I do differently?”
Ask yourself one of these:
- What happens if i switch my perspective? could I think differently about this?
- What emotion could I switch on instead?
- What if i switched the question around?
Don’t analyse — just notice what shifts.
Even a small mental switch can spark a different feeling or idea.
Pause:
Next time you face a challenge, catch yourself before you act.
Pause, take two minutes, and make one small switch in your thinking.
Action will follow naturally — faster and easier than you expect.
The key lesson?
To make a change in your life focus on switching your thinking.
Its within your control and the impact can be exponential.
And once you have experienced the results you will want to do it again and again.