How do you see change affecting your life?
Well, I gave my last graduation speech at my current school district. I wanted to inspire the graduates with a motivating speech with a quote. I sat in front of my computer going over various quotes from famous people and I could not settle on one that really gave me goosebumps. Then it hit me. Keep it simple stupid because they’re not here to hear my thought-provoking speech. I had an aha moment. As I step aside from this district and move on to something new, I saw the sign that has hung in my office since I came here. It read, And so…..the Adventure begins. A simple sign bought to decorate my first office as an administrator clearly articulated my message for these graduates. This post is to get you thinking about changes in life and dealing with the feelings that surround them.
Change is inevitable. Change is a constant in our lives and at times we get an internal feeling about some life change. Some individuals will get excited, and others will get a nauseous feeling when change occurs. Each person should pay close attention to how changes make them feel. If a person gets excited about changes to their situation, they should hold on to that positive feeling and use it to benefit their situation or mindset. If a negative feeling arises the individual needs to try and understand why and at the same time, shut it down and move forward. We need to be intentional in understanding and capturing our feelings as change occurs.
Many people have a fear that occurs when there is a change in their lives. In most cases that fear is over nothing. For me, I fear changes and the fear turns to worry that something will go wrong, and, in most situations, I have worried over nothing. That fear that grips my mind never comes true or it’s a very minimal concern. If we can just except that things will not be perfect and let that fear and worry go away, our acceptance of changes will go more smoothly. We must not let fear take over.
Changes should make us feel more excited about life. I would suspect that not many people get overly excited about change, but there are a few of us out there. Change needs to be seen as an opportunity to advance our lives or grow in experiences. Changes can offer us a restart or refresh our thoughts and ideas. As we step into changes in our lives, we create a better us and become more accepting. We do ourselves a favor when we see change as building blocks that supply us with the needed experiences to grow or improve.
What changes have you been avoiding or procrastinating on? How many times have we said, oh I’ll do that or change that later? I would conclude that many of us have things in our lives that could use changing. Self-assessment in this situation could help. Look at where you are in life, your career, or the relationships you have. Assess whether you are happy in your current situation, then make minor changes to start before you make major changes.
When change occurs do you get a positive or negative feeling?
How do you deal with the fear of change?
What excites you about life or career changes?
What changes do you need to act on today?
Life is an adventure with many changes, both good and bad. When we live a life that is full of adventure, we are happier and better humans. Accept the changes that come your way with an adventurous spirit and a positive mind will take you far. I hope you are seeking adventure and seeing changes for what they really are. It’s like a roller coaster ride, so have some fun. Thanks for checking in on this post and please leave a comment below that will contribute to the conversation.
Steven C. Bucks- Leading Conversations
~Maxwell Leadership Certified Team Member~
