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

Success Strategies : The Right Way To Deal With Change is a post from: Self Improvement Made Easy

Noted change management source, William Bridges, has identified a simple three-step model for understanding and coping with the transitions in our lives:

1. Endings

I really like this model because it acknowledges that all changes – whether the “good” ones or the “bad” ones – start with something ending in our lives. Despite how much we might be looking forward to the change (e.g., beginning college, new job, getting married, moving), the transformation first of all requires that we give something up.

We usually have to release the established, the traditional, and the comfortable. This might involve modifications to existing relationships, leaving a place where we’ve lived for most of our lives, giving up our acknowledged position of “authority” or being the “go-to” person at the office. It may be that we’ll have to leave a social circle that we’ve had for our whole lives. Friends with whom we attended school. A big comfortable house, with a great backyard for entertaining, plenty of room for the kids and all their buddies. Possibly it’s something as simple as a quick and easy commute to work.

But, regardless of the adjustment in our life, it’s a good bet that the first thing(s) that we’ll become aware of are the things that we are having to say goodbye to.

2. Neutral Zone

The next phase of the model is probably the most difficult one. We’ve moved beyond all the recognized, dependable, comfortable, well-known things that we’ve relied upon to expedite our typical decision-making processes, friends we can share our trials and tribulations with, all the tried and true “safety nets” we’ve integrated into our lives: the insurance agent we’ve relied upon, our child’s schoolteacher, the club where we’ve become well established and have a strong support network.

The Neutral Zone is the period where all the “old stuff” has to be left behind, but the related new support infrastructure hasn’t yet been created, or if developed, they are still new and rather fragile.

Existence can be pretty scary in the Neutral Zone as you live in a state of novelty, ambiguity and uncertainty. But diligence and perseverence are the secrets to a successful journey through the Neutral Zone.

3. Beginnings

Steadily, over time, we get things established for our new venture. If we’ve just started college, we’ve attended all our classes, met the instructors, developed a social network, and perhaps joined a fraternity, sorority or the tennis team. If launching a new trade, we’ve gotten over the initial shock of not even knowing where the water cooler and the rest rooms are, to being a full-fledged team member, and we’ve learned a lot about how to peform the duties expected of us. We’ve met our bosses and many of our colleagues (perhaps there’s even someone newer to the team than we are). If starting a new business, we’ve got the basic foundations established. We’ve probably found a new place to live, unpacked most (if not all) the boxes. We know where the best grocery stores, pharmacies, cleaners, gas stations, beauty salons, and emergency clinics are located.

Things are gradually settling into a normal schedule, and life is becoming more settled – and more predictable every day (although it will never become entirely static, or change-free).

We’re adapting and growing into our new roles and adjusting to our new setting.

This takes time. The worst thing you can do is expect that it will happen quickly – it won’t. Give yourself, and your family, plenty of time and space, to adapt to the change – and they will!

If your present transition involves beginning your own business, check out the Max Pro System to see how it can help you simplify your life and master working online, using the identical system that internet experts have used to make their millions.

Change – It’s A Continuous Process, Not An Event is a post from: Self Improvement Made Easy