What’s agreed is change is inevitable, as we’re faced with change practically every moment. As time ticks forward by the second, it’s up to us to manage time and transition it to our benefit. Our life is in a perpetual state of change, constantly facing good and bad opportunities.
What we’re victims of however, is we’re slaves to routine. By habit, we attempt to do the same things everyday.
Although we take the same route to work, the weather conditions are different, we see different cars, viewpoints, opinions, and our mood will always be different.
Change is the one common denominator which is out of our hands. The drama of the outside world we can’t control persists. We then need to adjust to these changes the best we can.
Making Sense Of Change
The biggest fear some have is change, but it’s a constantly moving target, a natural process, so why do some resist and stress about it so vehemently.
It’s usually because of the anxiety that builds, realizing we’re not up to the challenge of handling change.
The populace has been challenged or forced to adapt for generations, while developing new skills to respond to all the new circumstances.
For instance, baby boomers who grew up in a time social media didn’t exist, have adjusted and are now ardent devotees of it.
Readying For Change
So hang on as change is going to happen. It’s the one fact of life that’s for certain, so understand and gauge your reaction by making the best possible choice.
Learn how to manage this change, which is the difference between you capitalizing on an opportunity, or spending the time fretting you missed your chance.
Know What You’re Facing
Accept change as a natural act. Recognize it rather than avoiding or resisting it, while being objective about what’s happening or about to happen.
Most often, it’s what we don’t anticipate is what makes us feel apprehensive, and therefore not understand it.
Always be prepared by increasing your anticipation, gather information, and remove all the uncertainty.
Know What You Can Control
Once change does appear, you might feel helpless and think there’s little you can do or control.
What change is capable of doing is sabotaging your rational thinking and cloud your reasoning, leaving you confused on what you can or can’t do.
Every situation, we have some degree of control, regardless of the circumstances. There’s always at least one variable we can control, which is usually fight or flight.
It’s our readiness and attitude that matters as every change is different, and often, there will be more areas you can control than you realize.
Regardless, it’s important to remain calm and be prepared by collecting and identifying all the elements of the change you can control.
What knowing these variables does is helps you in focusing your efforts on what you can do, what can be done.
You can do so instead of wasting energy on something you can’t change, regardless of how hard you try.
Systematically Approaching Change
Realize change is a process and not an event. The bigger the change is, the more adjustments that are needed.
At times, there will be plenty of areas which needs attention, which may daunt or discourage you.
So to avoid feeling overwhelmed by constant change, attempt to break it down into workable stages or steps, and then tackle them one at a time.
By starting and completing one step after another, you’ll then feel more in control while seeing the actual progress you’re making, while successfully adapting to this change.
Pace Yourself Accordingly
What you never want is to make rash decisions you might regret later. Staying patient and mindful becomes essential when undergoing any change.
Being aware helps you in coping with any potential anxiety, while preventing disappointment and frustration, as you know what to expect.
Once you manage to prioritize better, while not dwelling on trivial details, you’ll be able to conserve enough wits to carry you through the entire process, and not just the initial stages.
Eliminating The Negatives
Lose the woe is me, “I’m cursed” victim card mindset while keeping your motivation going forward. Adopt the “I can do this” mentality, which will help you manage change better.
What constant negative thinking, which is the default setting in our brains, makes you feel helpless and more insecure than you already are, so you need to fight through it.
Remember what you’re capable of, the similar things that you’ve accomplished in the past, and don’t allow unexpected or unpleasant developments to bring you down.
Talk To Those You Trust
Attempting to cope with change alone can often be too difficult for many. There’s the feeling that others don’t understand or care what you’re going through.
The mystery is also you have no idea what anyone else is going though either. So why not share certain challenges with those close to you, to compare notes.
Just talking to someone can help or spring new opportunities, get different ideas and good advice. If nothing else, you can vent your frustrations with each other.
Always Stay In Focus
What any type of major change does is rocks our boat, offsets the center of our personal universe. They then dominate our thoughts while discarding the importance of other things, and narrows our thoughts just to that challenge.
Once this happens, you fail to appreciate all the other aspects of your life by putting them on hold, while attempting to deal with that one particular change.
So stay in focus on the overall picture of your entire life, and don’t allow just one event to dominate or distract, this by reinstating stability into your life.