All around us, we experience change. I change, you change. The seasons change, the scenery changes, jobs change, the ideas we have and our very attitudes in life change. The real question is: How do we handle the change?
When we are deliberate in change, we actively plan and then follow through with action. But often times we become a part of change when other individuals are planning and following through on their plans.
It’s the holiday season again; do you have traditions that you love? Making plans to have the extended family together? In my family, this was always a 5 p.m. dinner Christmas Eve followed by mass hysteria gift-giving and a midnight service to ring in Christmas day. Last year, however, we made a collective decision to change; some were reluctantly okay with the choice, some were really upset and still others were very excited.
This change happened without my own plan for change, yet, the change impacted me. I can think of hundreds of examples of change, with similar outcomes. The simple truth is: we cannot always anticipate changes, nor be able to prepare fully for the possibility of change. Change is a win for some and a loss for others.
If you want to win with change, it is within you to do it.
“It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change” – Charles Darwin
One of the biggest opponents to effective change is worry. We wear it in our facial expressions with furrowed eyebrows and hunched shoulders. Worry controls us, but only if we let it.
It’s time to stare it down, and really ask yourself what you worry about the most. Then reflect on past experiences and observe that 85% of what we worried about, never really happened. And, if it did, then there still was some positive that came from the experience. This is especially true if we are predispositioned to seek the positive in the changes we face. How will you handle your next change challenge?
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