Success Strategies : The Right Way to Deal With Change
The issue with change is not so much what we think of it, but rather how we respond to change. Truth be told, there are few words that throw up such a kaleidoscope of emotions and differing interpretations for us.
On the one hand, we find change exciting. We all wish our lives to improve, after all, no positive progress can be made without change. On the other hand, the word can be viewed in a negative light, as change is as likely to be bad as it is good.
Synonyms for the word ‘changeable’ include: ‘volatile’, ‘uncertain’, ‘unstable, ‘unsettled’. All of those can make us feel ‘vulnerable’, ‘unsure’ and / or ‘insecure’.
There is a part of us that likes to feel secure and safe and change is not compatible with that. Yet, after change has taken places, we very often call it ‘evolution’, ‘progress’, ‘expansion’, ‘growth’ or ‘advancement’; words which bring out far more positive emotions from within us.
So, it seems that it is not change itself which makes us anxious so much as the transition process - that step into the unknown. We feel comfortable with the stability of things as they are ‘now’. Now is somehow comforting because we know what to expect.
Perhaps it is not change that we fear, rather it is the loss of control that we associate with it. Change inherently carries an element of risk. Sometimes that fear, that perceived risk, is so big that it keeps us where we are now despite the current discomforts.
At the other end of the scale, there are times when we have probably all been guilty of making changes just for the sake it. We change the color of our hair, we change the layout of the living room furniture, we may even change where we work.
I used to change jobs every 4 months, as no job I ever found was the ‘right job’. I believed that when I found the ‘right job’ all of my unhappiness would go away. However, someone once pointed out to me that you can move to the moon if you want but nothing will really change because you are still taking ‘You’ with you.
Why? We do it to distract ourselves from making the changes in our life that really matter. In reality, it might be our choice of career that is making us unhappy, but we will change our hair color ‘just to make ourselves feel better’, because that is an easy and manageable change for us to cope with.
Seeing as change is inevitable, why not embrace it? Use change as an opportunity to measure what is going right or wrong, and to get yourself back on track and focused. Use it as your master key to success. How else are we going to grow?
I will leave you with a quote by Charles Darwin - “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.”
This article was edited and distributed by Mark Walters on behalf of Mandy Swift, who was the original author. More : Secrets Of Success
