The Truth About Change
Why are we scared of change?
Change calls into question everything we know to be true from where we stand today. To think that you must change something in your current life practice is to insinuate that you must be doing it wrong, or else, why on EARTH would you change it?! If we must change, then we must not have been successful.
We convince ourselves that if we have to change then we must not have been successful. Despite what we may think, change is not bad. The belief that it is, is simply an illusion based on how we have interpreted our experience thus far. What we truly fear about change is the uncertainty that is inherent when change is afoot.
Here’s the Truth about Change
Success looks different for everyone. It might be about making more money, having more time, or experiencing more freedom. For some they have defined their success by reaching a particular goal. But here’s the thing about success….it it finite. What you feel is success today will likely not be what you measure success by tomorrow, or next week, or maybe in ten years. If you fail to change then you will only ever feel success on the one day you achieve that finite goal, and this will limit your potential.
Success = Effort + Experience / Time
Truly finding success means you have to embrace change so that you never stop learning and growing. Society pressures us to view our journey as linear: a one way path to particular destination. In fact, the most inspiring journeys are those that look more like a roller coaster. The ups are slow, and sometimes the downs feel like a death spiral, but it is the intersectionality of how all of the ups, the downs, the upside down loops, and the death spirals work together to make the experience exciting…even if you wanted to puke a little, you probably had fun, or at least you have a great story.
Live in Your Lows
The truth about change is that your greatest learning on your journey will come from the lowest points- the failures, and the uncertainty. It is those lows that will INSPIRE you to dig in, in order to dig out, and catapult your growth even higher. It is the change that comes from living and learning from each experience that will propel you to continue to find success over and over again.
When not to Change
Knowing when to change and when not to is also important. Change is only as effective as it is meaningful. In other words, change for change sake is not effective. If you are leading a group of people, make sure when you ask them to think about changes that it is in direct relation to achieving a goal, or implementing something new and or innovative. Changing they way you do things so that you can proclaim “I’ve Changed!” is meaningless and often will even work against you, “If it’s not broke, don’t fix it” Right?
Accepting change can be tough and there will be days when you experience major lows and want to curl up inside of that comfort zone, and that is ok; for a minute. If you truly want to reach those BIG GOALS the secret to success is accepting that change is where you find the excitement in the ride. Embrace the change, because without change you can not grow.
Who are you asking to coffee today?