Be honest with me…what comes to mind when you hear the word, “CHANGE?”
For some individuals, “change” is an exciting experience. A life circumstance to anticipate and enjoy! These people may even go looking for change. They might voluntarily move to new cities every few years, jump at the chance to move job positions, or, at the very least, rearrange their furniture every few months.
For them, change is nearly always GOOD!
For others, this could not be further from the truth. These individuals may find change stressful. They find the “newness” that comes along with transition to be overwhelming. These are the people who spend weeks deliberating new haircuts or lay awake anxiously dreading morning in the days leading up to a big move or a new job starting.
If you find yourself in the first group of people, good for you! But this post isn’t really for you. Feel free to carry on with your day.
If you identify more with the second group I described, the ones for whom change is often an anxiety-inducing or dreaded experience, this article is for you!
First let me say, it is normal and completely understandable for change to feel hard. (Yes, even good and desired changes.) Whether big or small, life transitions can feel difficult for a multitude of reasons:
- Change makes us uncomfortable.
There’s a reason that changing your behavior or pursuing a new endeavor is often referred to as “going outside your comfort zone.” New circumstances, although often exactly what we need, will never be as comfortable as what you are already used to doing.
- Change requires patience.
Whether you are waiting to see results from a newly implemented habit or practice, or simply waiting for life to feel “normal” and “comfortable” again, new seasons in life always require some level of patience.
- Change can be scary.
Depending on the circumstances of your life transition or change, it can elicit different common fears, such as the fear of embarrassment, the fear of failure, or the fear of being misunderstood by others.
- Change can be prevented by unhelpful habits or behaviors.
Sometimes, the most difficult part of pursing change in your life is learning to overcome yourself. That’s right! Often it is our own unhelpful habits that are standing in our way (or, at the very least, making the journey harder.)
Alright, if you read this list and found yourself thinking, “YES! Change IS actually the worst!” Let me leave you with this:
I get it. There’s no denying that change is often difficult and frankly, requires a lot of us. It might demand that you let go of unhelpful behaviors or relationships. You may need to dive head first into things that scare you. You might need to get comfortable with not seeing “results” for a while.
BUT… I still think it’s worth it (at least most of the time.)
After all, the very essence of becoming a better, fuller version of yourself is (you guessed it) embracing change.
If you’ve been feeling the itch to switch things up in your own life…
If you have a goal you’ve been meaning to pursue but keep procrastinating…
If you know it’s time to trade some poor habits for growth-focused behaviors…
I invite you to join me in The SandBoxx!
In this community, you’ll be surrounded by other leaders supporting one another in embracing change EVEN WHEN it isn’t comfortable! You’ll be given live training sessions and power-packed monthly challenges to support you along the way!
If you’re ready to turn “change” from a bad word into the regular action of your life, come see what The SandBoxx is all about!
Article was contributed by: Maria Lees, Team Writer with Sarah Boxx
