Somehow the thought of any real change causes a tightening in your chest, a lump in your throat and a burn in your stomach. Why? Change evokes fear automatically as a human response.
Since the beginning of time, mankind has grappled with change. We all know stories or have loved ones or friends who are so rigid in their thinking that even the most minor deviation from their daily routine sends them into a tailspin.
But change is good! Not for the sake of change, but because it shakes things up, allows you to broaden your scope and opens your mind to possibilities that were never apparent.
Resisting change causes a great deal of stress and can be extremely uncomfortable. But continuing to resist inevitable or positive change immobilizes people and their ability to perform their work at a high level. Some very smart and seemingly successful people have failed for this reason alone.
What can we do? Try this. Every time someone presents you with an opportunity for change or a new set of circumstances hits you square in the face and does not give you a choice, stop, relax and do not resist. Simply be with the news for a while. After all, the change is not usually going to occur instantaneously. I call it the 24 hour rule. See how you feel 24 hours later. By then you have had time to digest the information, visualize what aspects of your daily routine and life it will affect and then purposely look for ways that it could actually be a good thing. For with every change, even when it is perceived as bad, there is always something there that will propel you positively forward if you will let it.
Turn your fear of change into your love of improvement!
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Jane Schulte is the founder of PRISM Business Advisors located in Greater Cincinnati. She is also the Author of WORK SMART, Not Hard! and BOLD Leadership. Please visit www.PRISMsuccess.com or more information.
-What do you think of the ideas above? What ways do you deal with change? Share your thoughts in the comments below.