Surfing the perfect wave

The waves are coming in. And there is nothing you can do about it. Today, change is to be expected or intended in our ultra connected world. We’re looking for better ways of living together and working together. Yet, it also means, giving up what we were comfortable with for so long. Change is hitting us all straight in the face and we better learn to embrace change than constantly fight it. Because, if one thing is more clear than ever before, change is a two-way street: while organisations lead on their change, it’s the individual who holds the key to cope with the adoption of the change around him.

Music has always been a huge source of inspiration for me. Often it helps me to connect the dots or just helps me to unwind; depending on my mood to be honest. Many of the musicians are highly sensitive in what they feel and explore in the world around them. In their lyrics, they’re sometimes real poets in expressing what a normal individual finds often difficult and hard to do. Perhaps that is why we often find comfort in music. But creating that piece of art is something that doesn’t come easy. The process of writing a song is hard work and although we only see the result and applaud them for that, we should also recognise that it is very often hard for them to go through the emotional rollercoasters and changes while creating something special.

“Afterall, music soothes even the savage beast” - The Offspring

You don’t become a rockstar overnight. Alright some of us are very gifted and learn to play an instrument very fast, have a way with words and their voice sounds like the voice of an angel. Yet, despite all the odds in that specific person’s favor, he or she might lack the motivation to really achieve rock stardom. To become what you dream, you have to be willing to make sacrifices, leave behind what you like, get out of your comfort zone, become uncomfortable about new things and feel what happens around you. Oh yeah, you might also need a little pinch of luck. Rock stars work very hard to get there and then they work even harder to stay there. Every time they'll reinvent themselves to remain the bright rockstar they are. They are masters in absorbing the world around them as it is and do something beautiful with it. There is much we can learn from that skill, besides obviously just enjoying the beautiful music.

In the current era, in this 4th industrial timeframe, we should all learn ourselves that amazing skill of absorbing change and do something with it. Leaders have to change their behaviour and agility is expected of everybody to swallow the constant waves of change. Because if one thing became clear so far, at the speed we’re inventing things now and connecting the world around us, we’re facing major disruptions far more often than ever before. And thus, organisations whether they like it or not, only have a future if they are able to constantly evolve themselves. And this time, they rely on the people the make the changes happen. So, this is the era where we ‘become responsible’ and ’embrace change’. This is the era where we learn to surf the waves of change. This is the era where we sense what is going on around us, and just like musicians, do something beautiful with it. And we need every single talent to create greatness for our children and this planet.

"Wake Up All The Teachers 
Time To Teach A New Way 
Maybe Then They'll Listen 
To Whatcha Have To Say 
Cause They're The Ones 
Who's Coming Up 
And The World Is In Their Hands 
When You Teach The Children 
Teach Em The Very Best You Can 
… 
Wake Up All The Builders 
Time To Build A New Land 
I Know We Can Do It 
If We All Lend A Hand 
The Only Thing We Have To Do 
Is Put It In Our Mind 
Surely Things Will Work Out 
They Do It Every Time…”
 
by Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes - "Wake Up Everybody"

        

Change, in the purest essence of the word, is simple. It’s taking you from your current situation towards the new situation. The way it happens might be different: a logical evolution, a transformation, a deterioration or a complete break with the past situation. Nevertheless, change is going from situation a to situation b.

Organisations have a huge responsibility in helping people going through the change and that is why they have change managers and leaders supporting people doing so. But like stated above, I truly believe that in this 4th industrial era, each and every individual in an organisation holds a huge responsibility to adapt their behaviour when ‘change is hitting them straight in the face’. Look at yourself in the mirror for a while because it’s time we question something essential: do you really believe in the company’s strategy and are you passionate about devoting all your time and energy to that cause? Because, I think that when you are about to be confronted with all the waves of change, you needed to have answered that question. In the end, it comes down to better doing what you love. So, if you were able to answer that question we can move on. I’m guessing then the most critical skill for you to be happy at the company you work, is to be “being responsible for your actions”. Mark Manson stated it beautifully and bluntly: “You are responsible all the time for experiences that are and are not your fault. Nobody else is ever responsible for your situation but you. You get to choose how you see things. You get to choose how you react to things.” It could well be your new mantra when you want to survive and this means most likely you have to invest more in personal leadership. Personal leadership is your answer to grow yourself and don’t drown in the sea where the constant waves of change are hitting you in the face.

"We gotta make a change.
It's time for us as a people to start makin' some changes. 
Let's change the way we eat. 
Let's change the way we live. 
And let's change the way we treat each other. 
You see, the old way wasn't working 
so it's on us to do what we gotta do, to survive." 

by 2PAC - "Changes"        

The above lyrics is a fragment from the song “Changes”by the illustrious Tupac Shakur, better known as 2PAC. There is value in his lyrics, because what he is calling out back in 1998, is that when you want change to happen, it starts with yourself. “As a human being, I can be proactive so that I can actually do something about certain things and don’t add stress in my life by worrying over things I can’t control.”, could be the perfect user story for a human being who wants live a proactive life. When you want to take back control of your life, you have to change your mindset. Isn’t it mindset that determines your success? Although the waves of change are constant, we have two ways to approach how we deal with them: (1) I make things happen and determine my own fate or (2) Things are happening to me. With an internal (1) locus of control, you are in full control of all aspects of your life. You are a master in self-improvement and in a way you are the co-creator of your life’s journey. Since you have the power and you take control of things, your motivation gets boosted and you actually become the change. With an external (2) locus of control, you end up giving up responsibility and thus allow others to control large parts of your life. You end up blaming others or the environment for what happened to you. So, “it’s on us to do what we gotta do”.

When Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna and 8 other people got killed in a helicopter crash on January 26 in 2020, many of us were shocked by it. 7 months after that tragic day, Nike honoured Kobe with a touching tribute. That powerful tribute got a voice over with words by Kendrick Lamar. What Lamar was able to express brilliantly, was the mantra Kobe lived by as a person and as a sportsman: the mamba mentality and his constant striving to become a better ‘Kobe’ every day, be a better Kobe than yesterday. Passion, Focus, Honesty, Fearless and Optimism were his guiding principles, to become one of the finest basketball players in the History of the game. Narrated by Kendrick Lamar, the movie ‘Better’ points out that we all can make progress and improve to become a better version of ourselves.

"Kobe taught us to be better

Better dreamer
Better waker
Better stretcher
Better walker
Better talker
Better?at?walkin'?the walk and?talkin' the talk
Better?blocker, better sprinter
Better loser, better winner
Just—be—better
(Do the simple stuff right)

Better form
Focus
Better friend
Better fighter, better rider
Better eater, mhmm
Better leader
Better generation, better nation
Just—be—better
Can you do that?
(Let's go, back at it)

Better player
Better shooter, better scorer
Better goat, yup, better goat
Better mentor, mhmm
Better minor, major, mover, shaker
Better skater, better artist, yeah
Better teacher, better preacher, better believer
Better first, better future
Better hero, again, better hero
Better mother, yeah, better father
Better father, better father, better father, better father
Better me, better you, better us
(Mamba out)
Better
Forever" 

        

Incremental change may feel small in the short term, but over time when all small changes culminates, they evolve into great progress.

Alright, then how do you start? Michael Jackson once stood in front of the mirror and created a song about it: “I’m starting with the man in the mirror, I’m asking him to change his ways. And no message could’ve been any clearer. If they wanna make the world a better place, take a look at yourself and then make a change”. Easier said than done. Stephen Covey wrote about this topic in his book “the 7 habits of highly effective people”. First of all, you have to find out what matters to you, to you as an individual, and what not. You might care about global warming but most likely, you will not be able to fix it. But you can opt for reducing your plastic waste at home for example. Basically you define what is a concern for you and what is not. Once you know, from all the things that are a concern for you, you look for those things inside the realm of control. Which are the things you can do something about it? If you focus your energy on the things you can control, you will automatically waste less time on other stuff. So that was the easy part since you now know how to list the things you think you can control or not control.

But there is a more difficult part as well. When you want to change some aspects of your personality, you need to have the knowledge, the skills and the desire/motivation. Each and every aspect in important. You can know what you want and even how you want it, but if you don’t want to put in the efforts, nothing will change. However, it starts with “when you know better, you can do better”. And in this era, I’m calling on you to internalising “coping with change” as a new habit. You’ll end up seeing more opportunities afterwards than troubles.

The thing is that in order to internalize that new habit, that there is not a short-cut or trick. It requires your dedication and your discipline. The good news … internalizing starts with an intention. And luckily, we are full of good intentions. So … pick this intent : you can’t stop the waves, but you can learn to surf. Pick the perfect wave and go out there.

So grab a board,

surf the waves

and go with the flow.

Because flow is everything.

Credits:

• Photo by?Pixabay?from?Pexels
• Inspiration from the book: the Subtle art of not giving a f*ck by Mark Manson
• Inspiration from the book: the seven habits of highly effective people by Stephen Covey
• Inspiration from Nike’s Mamba Mentality Website
• the Offspring – “Time to relax”
• Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes – Wake Up Everybody
• 2PAC – “Changes”
• Michael Jackson – “Man in the mirror”