“What could I change about myself to have a positive effect on my life?”

This question accompanied me on my journey to Berlin, where I participated in the “Immunity to Change” workshop by Johannes Willms, who directly learned the concept from Robert Kegan and Lisa Lahey.

My desire for change that I wanted to work on during the workshop: To live even more consciously in the here and now. An intention that was fueled, among other things, by another workshop and a vacation read, which I write about in this blog post.

Insights into the “Immunity to Change” concept

To overcome one’s own “immunity to change,” Kegan and Lahey developed a structured approach, which I illustrate using my goal:

1. My improvement goal: Living more consciously in the here and now – why do I actually want to achieve this? With this follow-up question, I further refine the goal and am also allowed to enjoy the further formulation, as Johannes shared in the workshop. And lo and behold: I want to create more space for relaxation in everyday life! This is now my goal.
2. Behavior Inventory: Here, I observe what I do (or think) that runs counter to my goal. This is only about observations, not reasons. For example, I tell myself that I need to be productive before I allow myself relaxation.
3. Hidden Commitments: What are the hidden commitments behind my actions? Something like: I am obligated to accomplish a task first before I can relax.
4. Fundamental Assumptions: What assumptions underlie my actions? “Duty first, then pleasure” could be such an assumption.
5. Testing the Assumption: Now I ask myself whether it is always true that I or others have to accomplish something first before enjoyment and relaxation is allowed? It is now about finding exceptions to this assumption. While reflecting I notice how I already integrate moments of enjoyment and relaxation into everyday life: during my morning commute by train, for example, I sit in the bistro car with a cappuccino and pastry. I consciously take my walk to the office without hurrying. And next month, a move to the vicinity of Lake Zurich is on the agenda, where I can then test further exceptions (30 minutes from my apartment, it’s downhill on foot to the lake for swimming and uphill to a pool – both of which I plan to use regularly and have already excited my partner for a joint swimming pool subscription).

In summary, “Immunity to Change” helps to identify which internal commitments and assumptions stand in the way of change.

In my understanding, it is about discovering small exceptions to beliefs or habits and initiating changes through low-threshold experiments and retrospectives.

Too radical ‘180-degree turns’ can quickly lead to frustration if they fail, hence the focus on small exceptions.

And here my workshop exploration of “Immunity to Change” ends for now. At Lake Zurich, the water, the sky, and the mountains are silent companions for my described goal of change.

At the same time, I look forward to supporting other people as an accredited coach in their changes – also with the approach described here.

Feel free to contact me if you want to uncover hidden commitments and gradually dissolve limitations.