"Make It Real"

This past weekend my oldest daughter coordinated a small health fair at a local farmer's market. One of the displays she had was on the amount of sugar that was contained in various foods and beverages. The display included a vial of sugar actually showing how much sugar was in the item. As I watched people review the display I would often see them grimace or say to someone with them, "Wow, I never realized how much sugar I was consuming."

The statistics on the quantity of sugar in food and beverage items has been around for years. It's on the label. There have been numerous reports on TV. But until it became real to them, it didn't "click." Getting people to understand the need to change attitude or behavior almost always requires a visual, a real life experience or something that connects personally to their world. Telling people they need to change rarely gets them moving in a new direction.

The next time you're involved in getting others to change, make the case by making it real to them. Connect the change (or need to change) to their daily life and routine as much as possible and you may just find they are more willing to move in the new direction with you.