How to Overcome the Fear of Change
Human beings are the only known creatures that can remold themselves
through self-study. Our individual growth
depends on our understanding of what we can become and what we have to do to
achieve this. Internal understanding and acceptance will lead to change in
attitudes, habits, and the good news is that you can consciously and constructively
change your habits and attitudes for the better.
The problem is that change is uncomfortable and it is met with some
form of internal resistance. As a result, most people are unwilling to pay the
immediate price of change; therefore, they do not change and pay the ultimate
price. A basic fear of the unknown causes a natural resistance to change and
the result is that although we have the desire to have, we do not have the
desire to become.
One way to solve
this problem, control your future, and direct your change is to have written
goals. The instant this is done the fear of change starts to dissipate as
we become accustomed to goal-directed change. It is because of the unknown, of
course, that change is scary. Yet, whenever it becomes goal-directed, it no
longer becomes something to avoid.
Here is what you have to do at your leisure:
1. Write down all the areas of your life on paper: financial, career, physical, health,
family, social, personal, fun, adventure, mental, emotional, spiritual, and ethical
2.
Take
each area and identify the changes you want to make in each of these areas. It
could be in your habits, attitudes, finances, relationships and so on.
3.
These
changes are not wishes (like New Year's resolution, if you catch my drift); they are vivid goals/dreams you want
to act on, so put them down on paper to help you create a psychological commitment,
and provide a guide for you to stay on course. If you have problems with putting your goals on paper in a way that provides all the
information you need at a glance, click here to read some guidelines.
“Great changes may not happen right
away, but with effort even the difficult may become easy.” — Bill
Blackman
Furthermore,
it is worth mentioning that to move forward change cannot be avoided and it is
important to understand that each change provides an opportunity for an
innovation, and a chance to demonstrate your own skills and creativity which
you will find starts to flow more as change stimulates it.
This is a New Year and I believe it is the best time to
talk about change so that you don’t repeat year after year in the same
situation, having no change. So, keep this principle in mind: “when you focus
on change (in every area of your life) you’ll get results.
The Bottom
Line:
All growth
involves some form of change, and the key to your success is to control the direction
of change (in every area of your life). The best way to do this is to become
accustomed to goal–directed change.
Remember,
you can initiate positive
changes within you.
To Your
Success,
Gerard
Ndzebir
Gerald -
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about the importance of clear and compelling goals. In fact, the fewer the better so that we can stay focused on what's important.
But sometimes goals are not enough. Think of all those people who went on diets on January 1 and have already gone back to their old ways. And how many people joined exercise clubs but are finding that getting up that extra 90 minutes early is starting to get old.
When the challenge of meeting our goals is not just how do I do it, but something else, then I turn to the work of Kegan and Lahey who wrote an the important book, Immunity to Change. They argue that we often have competing commitments. We are committed to our goal but we are also committed to keep the status quo in place. They suggest that the only reliable way to move toward your goals when this is the case, is to explore the reasons that are keeping the commitment to life as usual in place. I like their work and recommend their book highly.
Hope you have a good year.