Change is always tough. Something familiar is destroyed. Something unknown comes along. Nobody likes change except a baby with a dirty diaper. As someone rightly said “Everybody’s going to have to change. You have to try to see what’s coming down the tracks before it gets here – a light at the end of the tunnel or a train coming right at you.” Change is not an enemy, it is merely a challenge to a set way of doing things, a compulsion to get out of our comfort zone and go into unfamiliar territory. Change may be risky but not changing is riskier. Change is the center of growth and expansion. Change is not easy but then again, it often provides an opportunity to excel in life and to test our audacity. The greatest opportunities arise at times of greatest change, and that means that these days there are huge opportunities almost everywhere we look. If we look around, there is change everywhere, and the pace of change has been accelerating. In the last five years alone, industries after industries have undergone revolution: from music, to publishing, to consumer-electronics, and more. Banking, airlines, retailing businesses etc. are looking at ways to leverage technology to engage their customers like never before and stay ahead of change.
All change begins with self-change. As Jack Welch said, “If the rate of change on the outside exceeds the rate of change on the inside, the end is near.” We need to cuddle the idea that durable change happens both inside us and outside us. We have to challenge ourselves to act in new and different ways which is usually the last thing we do under stress. We have to utilize tough times to rethink our strategies, but usually we do so poorly. Great people don’t just manage change, they originate it. Hard-hitting times require them to lose their heads enough to free themselves from trying to simply stay on top of change. We must learn to burst through barricades and try new things in pursuit of new opportunities. Only then we will find enduring victory. As Charles Darwin rightly pronounced, “It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change”
Handle with Care
Change is constant. Whether it’s in the workplace or our relationships, nothing in life ever remains quite the identical. Irrespective of the gravity of change, it can always be a little creepy. Throughout life, people can unquestionably bank on changes or transitional stages. Some of these transitions are positive; a marriage, birth of a child, winning the lottery, graduating from school. Some transitions are negative; going through a break-up, death of a loved one, or living with a chronic illness. One factor related to success is that effective people are skilled at adapting to this fast walked ever changing world. This ability to adapt to change, points people on the path to leading a more gratifying, enhanced contented life. We can’t regulate every characteristic of our lives and we can’t stop change from happening. But how we respond to change will greatly affect our overall life experience. Some of the ways to make the best of change and to become Change Optimist are:
Embrace changes as opportunities for progress
If our lives remain changeless for too long, they become stagnant. Sometimes being shaken up is a good thing. The veracity is that that kind of change, or loss, can lead to something better. Remember the saying: When one door closes, another one opens.
Don't be fearful of new people or situations
If we are always distrustful of meeting new people because of what people have done to us in the past, we will end up missing out on the good things they have to offer. Face periods of change with a candidness unconstrained by excessive anxiety.
Be prepared
Life is full of unexpected surprises. Death, loss, and strange situations will be a part of our life, no matter how much we may try to cover or safeguard ourselves from it. The major key to coping with change is to begin by accepting the reality of change and its inescapabilty.
Accept it as a new chapter in life
A change, then, should be seen as a new chapter in our life. It should be considered as a fresh opportunity to gain knowledge or experience in some new area, or a chance to discover new people, new places and new skills.
.Let go of what has happened and move on
We cannot remain rooted in the current or a past situation. Change requires change from we as well and we will need to learn to resist turning back to the past and trying to reconstruct what once was. We have to forge on into the future and stand proud.
Adopt a purposeful approach to recovery from change
Restating our purpose in life can be a very powerful way of putting change into context in our life. Initially we may feel resistance to the idea that our sense of purpose in life is either missing, but change can actually awaken the quest for re-examining what truly matters to us. We have to allow this to be an opportunity to renew or reroute our purpose in life.
Admit that there's only one thing you can control in life, and that's yourself
Change may turn our world upside down but it is how we react that makes the difference between managing or falling apart. Blaming others is a fairly standard response but not a fair assessment, blame won't solve anything and it dangers turning us bitter.
Think positive thoughts
What we think about change will have a direct effect on how easy or hard we find the process. If we believe that change is difficult and terrible, then we will probably have a difficult and terrible time. Periods of uncertainty are more difficult for pessimists not only because they expect the worst, but because they do not see as many positive opportunities as optimists do.
Find vigorous ways to deal with your feelings
Whenever we’re in transitional periods it can be easy to lose track of ourselves. Sometimes we feel like we’re being tossed about by life and like we have lost our footing, causing some very uncomfortable feelings to rise. One way we can channel these feelings is by finding healthy ways to release them.
As a final point, what is certain is that all of us are going to be forced to adapt to change throughout life, as transitions are a guarantee, until the day we die. Change can be frightening, and disruptive. However, with the right attitude and actions, we can find opportunities in that change. Coping with change well, rather than losing our mind, only requires an adjustment on our outlook and a little evidence of surviving various circumstances. Coping with change is not that hard. We cannot change how our brain works, but we can use its quirks to our advantage. Basically, our brain likes information it knows and understands and does not like what it does not know. If our brain experiences enough change in a variety of ways, it will allow us to function with the understanding that change is something we can subsist and even benefit from. We should seize the day and make the most of every opportunity. Life is not about having all the answers and knowing for sure what is going to happen tomorrow. We have to prepare for life's ups and downs with a daily practice. Of course, getting to this point is easier said than done.
CAclubindia
