Change- “Just Do It!” - It’s the branding cheer of swoosh-emblazoned shoes and it’s the mantra of our times. We hear it shouted at us in work settings, in gyms, in advertising campaigns, and from health care providers. But even more than mantra, the call to change feels to me like a mandate – live change or die so to speak. Plus we- okay, I- scream it at ourselves as we reach for that second piece of cake, ignore the growing pile of laundry, and extend the credit card to buy that extra pair of shoes that we- I- don’t really need- or engage in whatever is the temptation of choice.

Just do it? Who inserted that ‘just’ word in there anyway? The ‘just’ makes changing sound, well, just so easy that when it doesn’t play out with quite such ease, it’s easier to just retreat to certainty and to Just Do Nothing!

Change- how can we ‘really do it’ to live the lives that we dream?

As a Psychologist, researcher, academic type turned coach in competitive business, sports and life fields, I want to assure you that changing- creating true and sustainable change, life-altering and even life-saving change- is not as easy as “just” doing anything. Change is strange- in fact it is downright unnatural. Not changing is our autopilot response that has ensured the survival of our species in days gone by before it was time to live change or die…

Research studies from mind-body medicine and brain science support that changing is really not natural- it goes against our survival instincts which hurl us in to flight-flight-freeze-in-fright-and-analysis-paralysis modes when confronted with change and anything that is novel or different.

Here’s the up side: Research studies in behavioral science, brain science, and sports science, including some of the investigations that I have launched, also provide the secrets for how to coach yourself to change.

You can Really Do It! Understanding that change is strange, that changing is challenging, that our natural human response to change is to resist it and that we can harness the power of the brain and heart and body to get smart in the face of change- that’s information that I can provide and you can put into play to live the rest of this journey on purpose and with passion.

So if you’re game to understand why changing is more complex than ‘just’ doing something and if you’re open to learn some field-tested strategies that are backed by research and have been road-tested on real life fields, you are in the right place. And I am thrilled that you are here.

Some basic background to support why you might want to consider hanging out with Dr. Brill- who is definitely not Dr. Phil…

My professional labels identify me as a Psychologist, Coach, and leadership development consultant. In those roles, I have attempted to introduce change into my life and the lives of the people with whom I have consulted on diverse turf since my early days of working street corners where I started my career (not as a woman of the night but as a social worker trying to convince juvenile offenders to change, to give it up and turn themselves in or to put away that switch blade that they were waving at my face) to recent stints consulting in corner officeas and manufacturing floors.

My other professional identity is that of researcher and author. After my own devastating diagnosis of having been born with a hip disorder that went unnoticed until my mid-30s and took me off of the competitive running scene- heck, it took me out of walking for a long while- I became an expert on the losses associated with life-altering diagnoses in sport and life. I admit that I have presented my original research at academic conferences populated by people who look just like Mr. Chips or “Our Miss Brooks”, all in natty tweed. Despite my passion for buying Italian shoes and clothing at bargain prices, I am a self-proclaimed nerd. I am a lover of learning who thrives on translating research into user-friendly strategies and stories, which is how I ended up migrating from teaching at Dartmouth Medical School and the research scene to teaching and speaking in business settings and translating my research into a book.

Through all of this, I have learned that coaching ourselves to REALLY Do It!- to proactively design and implement changes that will change our lives is truly within reach- even when we are writhing from a lousy diagnosis or a fall on a training run and on our trek toward a life dream.

As we embark on what I hope to be a lifelong and life-altering journey- for you and for me- I want to assure you that changing is more challenging than the word ‘just’ would imply (I will introduce you to some of the brain research- in user-friendly terms- so you will understand your own resistance).

I want you to know, too, that I have accumulated and designed an arsenal of effective strategies for using your brain and heart and gut to override this resistance. And I have coached a lot of people- including myself- on how to design life-altering strategies and how to move themselves to action- to motivate themselves to get going and to stay on course!

And you can learn to put those strategies into play to design and coach yourself to successfully implement the strategic moves that will change your life into the life that you want, the life that you deserve!

I can teach you how to “Really Do It!”- how to get moving, how to get back up when you fall, and how to get back on course when you falter- because we all fall and falter. Learning to get back up is part of the voyage to get from where you are to where you want to be!

So what qualifies me to coach you to coach yourself? Here is the Cliff Note version.

I have developed and tried my own medicine, so to speak, for many moons- for eons- in settings that include:
• medical clinics where I coached people like ourselves to launch life-saving changes in the face of life-threatening illnesses and coached elite level athletes from junior to master’s level to recapture their passion for life and rechannel their competitive drive after career-ending and life-altering injuries;
• courtside where I consulted to competitive athletic teams and their coaches on implementing changes to enhance the level of play and team dynamics as well as the scores;
• courtrooms where I spent some of the early years testifying on behalf of the abused kids who were my clients and I had to learn to change my own natural desire to spring from the witness stand in flight or fight- to flee or to attack an ‘alleged’ offender’s attorney who was attacking me as I were the accused;
• Medical School settings where I taught Residents learning to be Psychiatrists how to give up the surgical stance and prescription pad to actually get to know the person sitting across from them (at least long enough to write the right script and to engage their clients with change so they took the script and listened to the non-medicinal recommendations);
• corner offices where I now work as an executive coach teaching leaders to engage themselves and others to implement the strategic changes designed to ensure the longevity of their companies;
• under the comforter of a warm bed each morning where I have, for over thirty-something years, convinced myself to change my desire to stay under the covers and to, instead, leap from the bed to engage in some form of aerobic activity to build brain cells and heart muscle in order to combat family history of heart illness (Dad) and Alzheimer’s (Mom) and a congenital hip disorder that took me out of the field of competitive runners and spiraled me into my own mild depression around loss in my mid-thirties;
• at home and on cell phone at odd hours of the day in my attempts to engage my daughters, four strong-willed women ages 16 and a half (remember those days when you used the half marker to indicate that you were older and smarter than others thought) to 23, in their own change initiatives to change their minds to change their lives;
• on work treks in the wee hours, sleepless in whatever city and hotel room I find myself, as I contemplate how I want to live out the remaining decades and sketch out the map for making the changes that I want to make to live on purpose and with passion and health to enjoy the ride.

I also want you to know that my most favorite label is that of human- with all of my frailties and weaknesses that make really changing a bit more complex than ‘just’- but still within reach. I am an eon-ite on the second half of my life journey just like you- a Mother of four amazing and will-full women ages 16 1/2 to 23, a worker bee with career goals still, a person who struggles to figure out how to stay fit while traveling for work (I have a list of hotels with 24-hour in-house gyms for anyone interested), a working mom who is baffled by how to maintain a household and still carve out the time for friends and family (my weed garden and dustballs are a testimonial to my choices…), an individual who battles the urges to engage in short-term delights (that additional pair of shoes or the extra scoop of ice cream) over long-term dedications (that retirement fund or the calcium-rich bone-building yogurt)- all of the above and then some. Sometimes I engage in old habits that are human nature- I have a closet full of shoes and I do eat lots of ice cream- and at other times, I stick to my course and make the changes that I have plotted and dreamed. I am in this with you, talking myself out of inertia and attempting to laugh at my own mis-takes and the human nature that makes changing such a challenge!

Change is strange- it’s not easy. And it has one of the biggest – maybe the biggest- return on your investment of time, attention, and energy than anything else you might do. And you can learn to Really Do It! . …

I hope you will stay tuned for the next round where I will provide you with some insights into why changing is just so difficult and introduce you to some simple things you can do to get up and get going, to move yourself to actions to implement the changes that will propel you toward your life dreams!

Looking forward and moving ahead,
Dr. Pam Brill