I Hate Change-Unless It Makes My Life Easier!

The name of this post is an exact quote from a friend’s co-worker. Hummm, “I hate change – unless it makes my life easier.” I chuckled when I first heard this, but then I realized that millions of people feel that way…how fascinating…Let’s think about it. Certainly change for the sake of ease and comfort is a good thing and I’m all for it if means progress. But do we always know upfront whether or not a change in our lives will result in disaster or pleasure? Certainly not, so why judge it?

Change comes neatly packaged in all sorts of life experiences. From tragedy, to being forced into a new job, and even finding new love. Having a baby creates change in one’s life, but it certainly doesn’t make life any easier! In the end, change often brings joy into our life, even if we forsake the comfort of routine and simplicity. So why do so many of us resist it so?

Change is such a hot topic that there are books written about, seminars given to address it, highly compensated consultants brought in to address corporate executives and their teams. Urgh! Change! It’s costing America millions! But beyond the millions of dollars are the millions of headaches and fears that are costing us even more. What would happen if we weren’t so resistant to the dreaded – c-h-a-n-g-e?

Well, let’s take a look at why we resist it so. From my experience, both with clients, and my own life experiences, it seems that we often view change as a bad thing. It forces us out of our comfort zone and into the unknown. It means that we’ll have to adjust, think harder, and learn something about ourselves that may not be pleasant to face. Change is like stirring the pot; mixing flavors of the past, future, and present to create either a delectable feast or a culinary disaster. We don’t always know what’s about to occur – and the unknown is a scary place!

So, how can we embrace change a bit more optimistically? First, don’t forecast the outcome with pure negativity. Look at all sides including the potential for good in change. Let’s say that you have an employee who just gave notice. “OK, Jane isn’t the best at what she does, but I could trust her to get the job done,” you might say. “I don’t have time to find AND train a new employee,” you think. “What if I can’t find the right person?” and “How are the clients going to take the news?” Sure, it’s easy to let our minds go to all of the negative possibilities. But if you can train your mind to go to the positive possibilities you’ll almost always get good stuff out of any kind of change.

In this case, what if replacing Jane offers you an opportunity to change the job description and get more of the marketing off of your plate? Jane didn’t have great marketing skills, but this could be a prerequisite for the new hire. Perhaps you had to work hard to motivate Jane – now you could hire a self-starter and you know what you’re looking for. When you hired Jane, you just started the business and you weren’t so sure…. Well, you get the picture.

Even under the most tragic of circumstances, we can find the positive in change. I use the example of my husband’s death a number of years ago. This topic could be a book, but to abbreviate the outcome, I insisted on creating the most positive of possible scenarios during this painful time in my life. I took the time to be alone and get to know what I really wanted in my life, now that my goals had to be different. I spent more one-on-one time with my then 8-year-old twin daughters and became both parents to them. As a result we are closer today than I believe we ever would have otherwise been. I took in each experience as I received from support and love from others. These were all invaluable life lessons that contribute to my ability to be a supportive and well-rounded coach today. A career that seems custom built for me.

The next time you see change coming about and your mind goes into fear mode, STOP. Sit yourself down and write a list of all the possible positive shifts that could occur in your life as a result of this change. Even if it’s a small change in office procedure or in your business – how could this change have a positive impact on you? Train your mind to go toward this healthier line of thought. You will be amazed at the impact this will have on your life! Yay! I love change!