“All Great Changes are Preceded by Chaos”

Everyone resists change at least occasionally, some more than others.  We must face changes in both our professional and personal lives.  How we accept, deny or react to those changes is a measure of our strength – strength of character, moral strength, emotional strength and even physical strength.

The title of this post is a quote from Deepak Chopra.  Sometimes the chaos is only in our minds, while other times, enacting changes can be physically challenging.  A change at your office may be difficult to learn.  If the change involves overcoming a bad habit, it can be particularly trying.  Habits take a long time to become habits.  Overcoming them may take even more time, but the effort is worth it.

Trying something new, which is also a change, can be frightening.  What if we fail?  What if we make fools of ourselves?  What if it is too difficult for me?  If you do not step out of your comfort zone and try it, you will never know the answer to these questions.  You may be very surprised by the results. 

It can be uncomfortable, even emotionally painful to accept change or initiate it yourself.  Why, you may wonder, would you want to initiate change?  Breaking a habit, like quitting smoking, is a huge and often very uncomfortable change. 

Are you in a business that seems to be going nowhere?   We have all heard it, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.”  If the way you are working your business isn’t working, it is time to make a change – maybe several changes!  In order to move your business forward, you must do something different than you have been doing.  But that’s exactly what you must do to move forward.  It’s not life-threatening pain, but you may suffer some discomfort in the process.

There is a process to initiating change yourself. 

·        You must acknowledge that there is a problem that needs fixing.

·        You must decide the best method to make the change.

·        You must take action; take the first step toward the change.

·        Continue, step-by-step, taking action until you have completed the necessary change

If someone else put the change into place, do you agree that it was a necessary change?  If you do, you likely will embrace it and learn it quickly.  If you dislike the change, ask yourself, “Do I dislike it simply because I don’t like change, or do I believe the change was unnecessary or believe it may be harmful rather than helpful?”

Not all supervisors, managers or business owners make great decisions every time.  The newly-enacted change may be ineffective, even damaging to your company.  However, unless you are in management yourself, you must accept the change.  If it is truly a poor change, management will likely realize it in time. They may return to “the old way,” but you cannot expect that.  If you want to keep your job, do whatever is asked of you in the manner you are instructed

Sometimes our lives can become stagnant.  You feel as though you’re running in circles and getting nowhere.  To get out of this rut, we must make changes in ourselves. Here again, a process is involved.

·        Determine what brought you to this point and what needs to be changed.  Make a list.

·        Write down WHY these changes are necessary.

·        How can you go about making these changes?

·        Finally, get to work.  Make the changes.  Take action.

I can use myself as an example here.  A couple years ago, I noticed I was bored with my life.  I wasn’t having fun.  I actually felt a bit lost.  Using the steps above, this is what I did:

·        I spoke with my husband, and together we realized that we were both unhappy living 600 miles from our children and grandchildren. We were tired of spending holidays alone. We determined the reason we needed to change.

·        We sat down and looked at our finances.  Could we afford to move to California (where the family is)?  Expenses are much higher there than where we are living in Arizona.

·        We worked out a budget that would enable us to sell our house and buy a house in California.

·        We put our house on the market.  It too well over two years, but finally we did sell our house.  We purchased one in California, and in about three weeks, we will be moving to California.

Change is rarely easy or convenient.  Perhaps it isn’t meant to be.  Facing changes make us think, which can help us grow. 

Have you faced any challenging changes lately?  How did you handle them?

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