Self Improvement Made Easy

The issue with change is not so much what we think of change, but rather how we respond to it. In all honesty, there are probably few words that throw up such a kaleidoscope of emotions and differing interpretations for us.

On the one hand, change is exciting. We all wish our lives to be ‘different’ in some way, after all, there is no progress without change. However, the word can be viewed in a negative light, as change is as likely to be bad as it is good.

Synonyms for the word ‘changeable’ include: ‘uncertain’, ‘volatile’, ‘unstable, ‘unsettled’. These words throw up emotions for us that make us feel ‘vunerable’, ‘unsure’ and / or ‘insecure’.

There is a small corner in all of us which likes to feel safe and secure and change is not compatible with that. However, after change has taken places, we very often call it ‘progress’, ‘evolution’, ‘expansion’, ‘growth’ or ‘advancement’, and this throws up a far more positive set of emotions.

Therefore, it appears that it is not change itself which scares us so much as the transition process that it entails – that step into the unknown. We feel comfortable with the stability of things as they are ‘now’. Now feels safe because of its familiarity; yet our ‘now’ is changing every day.

Maybe it is not change that we fear so much as the loss of control that we associate with change. Change inherently carries an element of risk. Sometimes that perceived risk is so big that it prevents us making changes that we need to despite our unhappiness with our current situation.

At the other end of the scale, there are times when we have all been guilty of making changes just for the sake it. We change our hair color, we change the layout of our bedroom, we may even change where we work.

I used to change jobs every 3 or 4 months, as no job I ever found was the ‘right job’. I believed that if I found the ‘right job’ I would be happy. However, someone once pointed out to me that you could move to a different planet and everything that really matters would still be the same, because you are still taking ‘you’ with you.

Why? We do it to avoid making the changes that really matter in our lives. Deep down, it might be our choice of career that is making us unhappy, but we will change our hair color ‘just to make ourselves feel better’, because that is an easy and manageable change for us to cope with.

Seeing as change is inevitable, why not embrace it? Use change as an opportunity to evaluate what your life, and course correct. Use it as your key to success. That’s what successful people do, so why not you too?

As a final point, I will give you a quote by Charles Darwin – “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.”
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This article was edited and distributed by Mark Walters on behalf of Mandy Swift, who was the original author. Learn More : Secrets Of Success