Change: do you find it Easy or Hard?
Change affects us all – the only thing guaranteed in life is that things change, they evolve, and rarely (if ever) do things stay static.
Whether you watch your child leaving home, hear change is coming at work, the arrival of something new, or the letting go of something – change is all around us. Many people might say they struggle with change – so if that’s you, you are not alone! However some lap it up like it’s an exciting opportunity or even enjoy it so much they are constantly changing things.
The question is why do some people find change easy, and others find it a challenge or almost impossible to even contemplate?
The answer lies in how we perceive change
You see, some people have a preference for ‘sameness’; they like to preserve the status quo, they take comfort or even confidence from things always remaining the same – they will often find themselves saying: ‘why change things if they have always worked that way?’ when things therefore change around them, this can be disconcerting, and may cause worry. On the other hand, some people are surrounded by change, they love change and seek it out, they like things being different – for example the people who constantly rearrange their kitchen (like my mum used to when I was a kid!). There are of course many people that sit in the middle of the 2 extremes – in NLP terms we refer to these as either sameness with difference people or difference with sameness people – depending on their preference. It’s also worth mentioning that for some people there is a difference between change that they are driving/in control of vs. if you feel that change is being “done to” you (that’s also often about perceptions too – you always have a choice, even if the change is out of your control – not sure about this? .. then read on …).
So is there a best way to approach change?
It’s all about your perception of it; how you think about it, view it or feel about it (and sometimes about who and what you listen to about change). You see, if you look upon change as opening up possibility, opportunity and a chance to make things even better – then what’s not to like about that? If you have belief that you will been alright this also helps – because you know what, things will always work out in the end (even if it may not feel like it at the time). Perhaps you are the type of person who believes things always happen for a reason – regardless, if you focus on the negative/downsides /what you don’t want, guess what ….. that’s what you’re likely to get; but if you look at the upsides, the possibilities of what might be, who knows what you may go onto achieve!
The thing is:
What you focus on you get!
I have spent many years in HR implementing business change. At times its a role that I’ve not been popular for, but every-time I have implemented change I have encouraged people to retain their own personal power in a situation. For example, a business decides to cut costs, and let’s say amongst a number of things that involves a redundancy program. Whilst the shock for the people affected hits us all (me included, I’ve been on the receiving end 3 times in my careers) we all have a choice about how we respond. People take varying lengths of time to come to terms with the initial shock, they then have a choice about how they respond. Personally, I view it as an opportunity …. the chance to move on and do something different. However others may react in different ways – people may worry about how they are going to pay the bills, what they are going to do for an income and the impact on their family. But you see, the thing is …. you get what you focus on … I trust that everything will be ok and (to date) my approach to change has always worked for me and I’ve never been out of work.
So, how can we help you with your change?
A big part of what I do is coaching people, from all walks of life to achieve whatever it is they want. When I work with people we focus on what they want (not what they don’t want). You see, many of us go through life trying to please others or being constrained by a system (for example the rule book of corporate life). I work with people to remember they always have a choice (even if that choice is to do nothing). Unlike many coaches (especially in the corporate world) when I coach people, there is no external influence; its time just for them to focus on what it is they want (whether that is change or not).
Stop for a moment, grab a piece of paper and ponder over the below questions ….
- So are you currently achieving what you want? You can you know …. just imagine how your life could be if you took control and put plans in place to realise this …
- What is it that you are not achieving, that if you did not believe what you currently believe, it would mean you didn’t feel the way you don’t want to feel?
So choose your attitude … let’s see what kind of amazing life you can create for yourself when you unleash your potential, NOW!
Get in touch with Laura now to find out more and to start unleashing your potential.
