What does the word change mean to you? Which thoughts do you tend to associate it with? What do you think of transformation, improvement or growth? Or maybe risk, failure or instability?
Change is a fact of life for every individual in the world. It’s something you deal with daily. The people around you change, and also the circumstances of work. You also change, with the continuous succession and alternation of different feelings, passions and emotions, without forgetting the constant biological change that distinguishes every single human being.
Therefore, it is life itself that implies continuous change. This leads you to have to manage the different dimensions of your existence in the best possible way. In particular, when the change concerns yourself, your beliefs and certain established habits, this can often be very tiring and difficult to achieve. This happens because you delude yourself that you are well, remaining completely addicted to your daily habits. Thus, you do not realize that you are living on “automatic pilot”, when every day is the same as another, getting stuck in paradigms that hinder any possible novelty, opening up or improvement.
Change is an important value that requires you to be constantly open to the reality around you, abandon the fear of taking risks and focus on new opportunities and your inner potential. Doing this may seem very difficult since you link every habit to a need, which must be satisfied in one way or another. The difference is right here, in choosing what will satisfy your need.
For this, here are some strategies that can support you in effectively managing and embracing change.
How embracing change
- Find the right motivational drive. A useful technique to facilitate change is to list the disadvantages and consequences of a bad habit and, at the same time, make a list of the advantages that you would have in abandoning or modifying it. So, arm yourself with a pen and paper and write this list of all habits that are bad for you. This will help you find the right reasons to put the change into practice.
- Create the habit of change. We all get used to something. The difference between a creature of habit compared to another lover of novelty is precisely the habit of facing change. So, train for change, starting with the little things. For example, modify simple daily routines such as taking different routes to work, opening a bottle with the other hand, or reading something different. Be aware of what you are doing and be rewarded for the steps you have taken.
- Build a solid foundation for change. It is not certain that every change involves a situation of complete uncertainty. Very often, it is not a question of addressing total changes, but only of correcting the course taken or making partial changes. For example, changing a production line does not mean changing the entire company’s production. Therefore, it is necessary to analyze the phases and processes to modify, putting on balance the advantages to obtain in terms of time and cost savings, as well as in improving productivity. See how different the perspective is?
- Give yourself a trial period. One of my favourite phrases is “Every accomplishment begins with the decision to try”. A good strategy is to give yourself a limited time, to be able to carefully evaluate everything and have a first approach to change, before fully accepting it. Having taken stock of the situation, it will be easier to decide whether or not to keep the new habit.
- Create a plan B. It is said that if Plan A doesn’t work, the alphabet can provide you with many other workarounds. Therefore, you can always protect yourself by creating an escape route or an alternative plan, considering in advance all the variables you have at your disposal and any “tricks up your sleeve”, before tackling the change.
- Change is part of life itself. In everyone’s existence, it is a fact that change is something constant and inevitable. In your life, you have faced change many times, even in a conscious way. Just think about when you were a child and how you are today. You have learned to walk, talk, read, write, and your body itself has changed. The same happens every day for the people and the world around you. Change is part of your life. The difference is in how to embrace change and deal with it.
Ready for change?
Now you have at your disposal some strategies that support you in embracing change in the best way and taking responsibility for it, whatever it is. Being responsible does not mean knowing only what is the first thing to do. It means knowing how to welcome and execute it, focusing your attention exclusively on what you have to do. It is also important the way you will feel once you have reached each small goal, waiting to reach the final goal.
Coaching is a development method available to individuals and organizations. It is capable of positively affecting internal resistance and the process of leaving the comfort zone.
A Coaching path can be an effective support for overcoming internal obstacles, as well as for the acquisition of greater awareness.
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