Written by: Jane Turner, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Change is an inevitable part of life, yet it's not uncommon for people to actively avoid it wherever possible. While some openly embrace change as an opportunity for growth and development, others are more likely to be hesitant, resistant, or even fearful of change.
After teasing out some of the factors that contribute to widespread resistance to change, we'll be looking at ways to navigate it with greater ease.
I feel blessed to be in a position where I’m not only sharing my own insights with you here, but also those of an expert in the field. Her name is Charlotte Hillenbrand, the author of Growing Forward: Navigating Change with Ease.
When I sat down and really thought about this with the benefit of Charlotte's book by my side, I came up with the following five factors that account for the fact that so many people find change difficult.
1. Discomfort with Uncertainty: This is one of the states that is encompassed in the acronym VUCA which stands for Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity. The thing is that change often comes with a multitude of decisions, adjustments, and adaptations we need to make to regain our footage. While some folks might be fine with that, when we add the quality of uncertainty to the scenario we're facing, the change in question is likely to feel challenging (and not in a good way).
2. Loss of control: It's not uncommon for change that is forced onto us to entail a loss of control over our circumstances, even if the change in question doesn't actually diminish our control in any way. For those who don't like change, it can feel as if it does. Whether it's a new job, shifting sands in a relationship, or an alteration of some kind in our environment, concern about losing control while navigating unfamiliar territory can make it difficult for people to see the upside of change.
3. Comfort in the Familiar: Being creatures of habit, humans revel in the familiarity of existing routines. These things come with a high degree of comfort because on an unconscious level, they imbue a sense of belonging and perceived certainty about what's ahead. This attachment to familiarity goes a long way to making sense of the apparently ‘natural’ resistance to change so many people experience.
4. Fear of failure: The fact is that change often involves risk. A number of threats come with risk, including the possibility of failure of one kind or another. It's the fear around things like making the wrong decisions, facing setbacks we can't do anything about, or not being able to adapt to changes that are forced onto us that accounts for the fact that so many people would do anything to avoid change.
5. Emotional Attachment: Change can disrupt our sense of stability in relation to emotional connections we have with people, places and/or things. Whether it's leaving a cherished home, or a job we love, or altering a longstanding friendship, emotions can be triggered and override the logical part of our brain that we need to have engaged to come up with solutions and maintain a perspective on the real threats and opportunities that are inherent in the circumstances we’re facing.
I feel blessed to have seen Charlotte completely rewrite her future while in the process of writing her wonderful book, and establishing herself as a thought leader in the process.
I don't want to give too much away because she covers this in her book, but Charlotte had a veritable canyon to traverse from knowing herself as an airline pilot prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, to reinventing herself as a coach who helps high achievers maximize their potential in a warm and nurturing way.
Charlotte's tips for navigating change with ease include:
1. Taking stock of your strengths. List all of the things you’ve achieved as well as the things you are good at in order to get a positive picture of yourself.
2. Knowing your value so that you can use them as a compass for making choices and decisions. This will provide more clarity and enable you to shut out the white noise that could cloud your focus.
3. Becoming aware of the soundtrack that is always playing out in your mind, and knowing that you are in charge of it. Therefore, you are able to choose helpful thoughts rather than disempowering ones.
4. Looking for a different perspective whenever you find yourself getting stuck. A good way to do this is by asking yourself – how else could I be looking at this situation?
5. Taking ridiculously small steps. This works because the smallest step you take gets you further ahead than the big step you never dare to take.
While change may be unsettling, it is an inherent part of personal and societal development. What's more, it can be a catalyst for growth and personal evolution if we approach it with an open mind and a willingness to adapt to new circumstances.
You can purchase a copy of Growing Forward: Navigating Change with Ease here.
Jane Turner, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Jane Turner is an Author Coach, a Publisher, and the author of four books including the best-selling "Mindset for Authors: How to Overcome Perfectionism, Procrastination, and Self-doubt". She not only helps aspiring authors to get their books written and published, but she also shows them how to build their profile and/or their business off the back of their book.
