Sunday, 07 August 2022 06:25

Adapting to Change Featured

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"Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or the present are certain to miss the future" — John F Kennedy.

Working as a consultant means changing roles, jobs, positions, towns, and cities and meeting different managers. Some nice and others nasty. It is a change I have learned to contend with in life, and this has helped me handle other areas in my life to be resilient and never to bulge or give up.

I have seen people get anxious for fear of change because they cannot handle change. My friend Catherine stayed in the same position for over seven years until I discussed the topic. I asked if her buttocks had been glued to the same chair. She was pissed off. She got vexed with me and kept her distance for three days. She then rang my line and told me I was correct. It was in 2006.

She explained that she has not done interviews for more than eight years and is scared of change. She is comfortable where she is even though she complained about the salary. She made excuses why she was not willing to move on. I explained that within three years, I had moved to five different positions in the same organisation. We had to list out all the reasons she was scared, and I created a plan on how she could overcome her fears.

Change is an event that occurs when something passes from one state or phase to another. Change is a relational difference between states, especially between states before and after some event. Change is the action of changing something. Change is the result of alteration or modification. It is the balance of money received when the amount you tender is greater than the amount due—all these definitions. I want to go with the relational difference between states as these suits our conversation more.

Change is a constant in life. You cannot avoid change because without change; there is no growth. Change allows one to move forward in life and experience new and exciting things. Life can become stagnant when you don't actively work on evolving yourself. Learning new skills or working on your inner self can bring about changes you never knew were possible. Change can help unlock opportunities you didn't know were available to you.

The concept of change can be unsettling. Many of us would prefer to shy away from changes, whether big or small. However, change is an integral part of your development journey and, most importantly, should be embraced. Change touches all aspects of life but embracing change in your career can contribute enormously toward positive personal development. Change leads to opportunity and experiences.

The better you apply change management, the more likely you will meet your life's objective. You cannot avoid change. The moment you start resisting change, the more challenging your life becomes. You are surrounded by change continually, so it is something you cannot do without. It has a dramatic impact on life. There is no way you can avoid change. You need to embrace it and make your life pleasurable. When you avoid change, it won't be long because it will find you and force you to reconsider how to live your life.

"Your life does not get better by chance; it gets better by change." — Jim Rohn

Change can come to your life through varying means. It could be through promotion or crisis. It could be because of a choice you made. No matter how the change comes, it would help if you learned how to adapt to the change so your life is not disrupted. You can experience change by chance. No matter how the change comes, you are still forced to make a choice.

When you are prepared for change, you have more control over how to react to the change you are dealing with. When you are not ready for a change like Catherine, it is another story altogether and can cause anxiety, panic, and mental disorder. It would help if you prepared for unexpected changes to live your life as an activator of change and not a reactionary.

"Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don't resist them; that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like." — Lao Tzu

The Covid-19 pandemic was not an anticipated event. Little detail was known, so there was no adequate defence. The Covid-19 pandemic has reminded us that we cannot avoid unexpected events (crises) in our lives, as these events challenge us and force us to step out of our comfort zone. If we ignore or hide away from the challenge of change, we deny ourselves the opportunity to learn and grow.

"To exist is to change, to change is to mature, to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly." — Henri Bergson

Your resilience in life can only grow stronger when you embrace change. Learn to manage your challenges positively. You must not hide away and ignore the opportunities that change can bring to your life. Change can impact your life in ways you cannot say. Managing change in life is key to living a life where you are surviving and thriving.

"Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything". — George Bernard Shaw

The first method to adapt to change is to change your mindset. Embracing change is stepping into the unknown, and our subconscious will not like the "unknown." so it will resist. Your mindset is the key to success. You cannot control the events of change in your life, but you can control how you react to the impact these events have on your life.

"Life is about choices. Some we regret, some we're proud of. Some will haunt us forever. The message: we are what we chose to be." — Graham Brown

The more you use your power of choice and focus your mindset on positively adapting to change, the more resilient you will be to dealing with the impact that change will bring to your life. You can set the direction you want to live your life if you can know what is essential in your life. With a sense of purpose and meaning in life, you have clarity and focus, and both these elements are necessary to you being able to successfully adapt and manage the impact of change in your life.

I don't hold unto regrets. I can regret an action, but that is it. I learned the lessons I needed to know and used the resources to improve my skills. Regrets significantly impact how you respond to change, and they hold you back in life. Letting go of your regrets is key to you being able to move forward in life. You cannot change what you did or did not do in the past so let it go. The only control you have now is to choose to live in your present and future life.

I don't regret any of the decisions I've made because I have learned something from every choice I make.

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