WHEN CHANGE HITS YOU

There are changes you don’ look for, but they hit you suddenly.

Good changes bringing you enthusiasm and adrenaline, such as a headhunter calling you for an unexpected job offer. Or bad changes bringing you discouragement and worries, such as your employer who includes you in an outplacement program.

When change hits your life, most of the time, you cannot stop it. You have only to handle it, managing your emotions and relationships, adjusting your goals, plans and behaviors.

Nothing happens without being ready to change.

John Kotter, the preeminent change management expert, said: “People don’t change a minute before they’re ready.” Sometimes a vulnerability admission helps people recognize and address challenges. You can’t force yourself to change, you can only help yourself want to.

You need to look at change, good or bad, with a different perspective. You need to replace old habits with new ones. In change management, for instance, the goal is to replace negative habits with positive ones.

One of the best ways to change human behavior is talking with people who face/faced similar problems together. Don't be scared to ask for help, if you need. Sometimes receiving a good piece of advice by who has already faced a similar change before you could be a good inspiration and starting point for your change management too.

Changes in practice may represent breakthroughs. It's important to acknowledge small wins. It's a forced comparison... but we wouldn’t ask addicted to alcohol never to drink again because that goal would probably seem unreachable. We would ask them not to drink that day and we would recognize small milestones by awarding “sobriety coins,” usually monthly, for periods of abstinence.

You should learn a lesson from this practice and find ways to demonstrate and celebrate your incremental achievements. One of the main reasons why transformations fall short, according to Kotter, is that people fail to “systematically plan for, and create, short-term wins.”

"The goal is progress, not perfection”, he said.?????????????

Change could be hard, but neuroscience has shown that people’s emotional responses create their own chemical reactions, releasing powerful neurotransmitters such as adrenalin, dopamine, and serotonin. Successful change can be addictive in a positive way. No matter how habituated you are to established practices, you can adapt to other situations as well.

Change could be good, if you properly work on it. Push yourself to be the protagonist of your story and not only a pure viewer.

?It is easy to change things that nobody cares about. It becomes difficult when you start to change the things that people do care about.

Resistance to change is an ongoing problem.

Don't let it impact on your future wellbeing.

Coach yourself in facing change.

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Have a look at Coaching Juice to get more insights on personal empowerment, leadership, management and career enhancement.

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