Change is inevitable. Growth is optional.

Everyone handles change differently. Change is an inevitable part of life. It happens whether we’re ready for it or not. We can’t avoid it, we can′t slow it down and we can’t stop it. It’s going to happen whether we are prepared or not. Truth is though, dealing with change isn’t so much about the change itself, it’s about your reaction to it.?So, how can we overcome our fear?

We fear the unknown and we like to be in control. ?Most of us need to know what’s going to happen and we are not fond of surprises. For some of us it’s even easier to stay in a bad situation than accepting a change, because a change represents a risk, since we do not know how it will turn out and there is no guarantee of success, we′d rather stick with what we know (even if we are unhappy with that).

What can help to deal with the inevitable?

If we think back of all the changes we have gone through in life, professionally and personally, we should ask ourselves: Have they all been negative changes? Or have we ended up much better than we have been before and regretted to not have initiated those changes sooner?

I personally have been exposed to change from very little on, school and location changes, family situation changes. Later, personal and work situation changes. Now, don’t get me wrong, not all those changes have been amazing, but with all honesty, most of them have been very positive changes. ?In the past, I found myself obliged to change jobs, and with all the pain this brings with it, every time I ended up being much better than I have been before.

But it’s true, even with so much positive experience regarding change, my first reaction is still to be at least doubtful, if not fearful. However, I think fear is a survival instinct and without it we would most probably not exist, but it’s about how to cope with this fear and how to not let our entire thinking being influenced by it. My way of handling it is trying to embrace the change, see the positive in it and accept that fear is a part of our reaction. We always want to know what’s coming next and not knowing creates uncertainty and the feeling of losing control.

What helps me is to picture the worst outcome of a situation and then say to myself, it′s unlikely this will happen but if it does, I am still here, I need to take a different, unknown road but I have done I before and can do it again.

Despite all the uncertainties change brings with it, it can be the catalyst for something bigger and can make you grow, it can transform you.

Let′s take the risk to accept the change or better, be the change.