How to Feel Good About Change
What is your story about change?
Do you sigh, tighten up and say “Change is hard!”?
Do you take an approach of a seasoned programmer: “If it’s working, don’t change a thing!”?
Do you wake up and scare yourself by saying “I want a change!”?
Here are 5 ways to make change easier, whatever your starting point is:
1. Get a positive mantra about change. For example, “change is good for me” instead of “change is hard”. Do a quick experiment: do a couple of pushups while saying “Pushups are hard, I hate pushups.” Now, please do another couple of pushups while saying “Pushups are good for me; I Can do pushups!” How did it go? Picking a positive mantra that you can believe in is like picking the most pleasant route that you believe will get you to your destination.
2. Break down every change into really tiny manageable steps that feel good to you. For example, you need to re-arrange your room to make space for a home office. This could sound like a huge, daunting project. Break it down! Day 1: brainstorm for 15 minutes ways in which you can move the furniture. Day 2: spend 15 minutes online looking for a desk that fits your space/budget. Day 3: spend 15 minutes moving things out of the way to make room for the new desk. Before you know it, your home office is all set up!
3. Keep track of all the changes that you’ve made so far that worked out really well for you. You can make it a ritual: every time you brush your teeth in the morning, or take a shower, or ride a train, recall 2 stories about the time you made a change that worked out well. The change could be as simple as substituting butter with apple sauce in a recipe, or as big as making a new financial investment. If you see yourself as a successful change-maker, you will be more inclined to trust your judgment as you go through new changes.
4. Make the best decision possible “for now” with the information that you currently have, – advises a fellow Certified Personal and Professional Development Coach Tamara Rabinovich Pulles at inspiredcoachingdesign.com . If your information changes, or if you have a change of heart, you can always make a new decision that works for you better at that time.
5. Keep your eyes on the gifts that every change brings. You are making a change because you think you will get something that you desire and don’t currently have, right? Well, Penelope Trunk recently pointed out in her blog that according to research, people are affected much more by what they lose than what they gain. Let’s put a twist on this loss aversion theory: think of gifts not just as the Good things you will Gain as a result of change, but the Unwanted things that you will loose as a result of change.
Happy Changing!
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