Strategies to Open Your Mind to Change
Have you ever faced a situation where change was inevitable? Perhaps you were annoyed, frustrated, or even scared about how a part of your life was going to change. Perhaps you felt trapped because the change would happen whether you liked it or not. If so, you'll know how stressful and unsettling these types of situations can be.
You might have felt out of sorts and stressed for days, weeks, or even months. But what would happen if you shifted your outlook, and viewed change as opportunity? What if you embraced it with open arms?
Here are some tips on how to see change as opportunity:
Accept the idea of change. When we are comfortable with the idea that change is going to happen, we face it with less stress. John F. Kennedy once said, “The one unchangeable certainty is that nothing is certain or unchangeable.” Change will always happen, and recognizing that will make life easier for us.
Understand that change implies progress. Whether we like it or not, when something changes it is progress towards something else, and daily life involves constantly making progress on some level.
Recognize that change produces uncertainity in life. The aspect of change that shakes us most is the introduction of unknown factors. It can be disconcerting not knowing what is coming our way, but we must accept and acknowledge that fact.
Reframe uncertainty or the unknown as “newness”. If we shift our focus from the unknown, and recognize change involves “newness”—new things, people, places, and ideas—with at least some of it bringing excitement and interest, we will feel better and more comfortable about it.
Believe that change can be transformational. We may be exposed to better products, knowledge, and skills as the result of change. Many changes open up our lives in ways not imagined before. New experiences at work or home—wherever the change occurs—can transform our lives for the better.
Notice that a wider array of choices often accompanies change. Change will often produce more options. A whole new world opens up, allowing us to take advantage of new choices.
View change as “the spice of life.” It is said that “variety is the spice of life”, and if we apply that attitude to how we perceive change, our approach to it will be different.
Tell yourself that you can adjust to change. The fact is, you’ve already experienced hundreds of changes in your lifetime, and adjusted to them. You’ve always worked things out, so you’ll be able to adjust to new changes in the future.
If you change the way you think about change you’ll be more comfortable with it. Accepting change, viewing it as progress, recognizing there will be unknowns, and embracing the newness of it, will help you get ready.
See change as an opportunity, something that creates additional choices and excitement, and remind yourself that you can adjust to anything that happens, then approach change more positively.
