Change for change sake is bad. But if you embrace the opportunity that change brings, it can be the start of something truly amazing.
One of the strangest things to talk about is change. I don’t know why people seem to fall into one of two camps; either no way am I going to change or no change means no change.
So, in the no change camp are the people that stay, at all costs, in the same job. They gripe and complain. They really hate going to work. They complain at every opportunity. They are, in actual fact, very poor employees. This unhappiness doesn’t seem to stay at work, it always seems to float like a cloud around that person and everywhere they go, the cloud goes too. Then there are the people that refuse to change habits. They eat the same food, do their hair the same way, they dress the same, and keep, as best they can, to the same routine. They make their ‘sameness’ seem like a badge of honor. The change from their routines would seem like the end of the world. Another group in this camp are the people who refuse to change where they live or what they drive. They would never consider moving where they live. They don’t renovate or get many new things at home. Their car isn’t the cool car that they are restoring and keeping it fabulous, it is the BEST deal they ever got and still maintain there is nothing wrong with it, so why change it. They don’t hear any arguments that would lean them toward efficiency in gas mileage or changing with the times. Nobody in this camp listens to the good reasons to change these items in their world and it is like talking to a statue to ask them to consider a change.
The other camp is the one that refuses to be consistent and jumps at the chance to change. These people rarely stay in the same job for long, they may even go so far as to never have a career, but a job. They are always on the move and hard to stay connected with because they are physically hard to find. Some of these people are constant travelers. They may have a home base but are out traveling as soon as budget permits. They lack connections and long-term friends because that would mean more of a commitment than they are willing to commit to. They have very few memberships and are rarely part of a team. Sometimes owning a large ticket item like a house or a car is just too far out of reach for them. Generally, these change loving people are hard to nail down to any kind of commitment.
Do either of these camps sound like you? Most of us fall squarely in the middle. We like a commitment for some things because it gives us comfort. But for other things, bring on the new. The point to all of this is that we need to find what works for us. I have said that a lot because it is true when I looked it up “what works for you” appears in 40 of my blog posts. When we find ourselves settling into a routine, it can be good. It may give us the consistency that we need and haven’t been able to commit to. It may be what we have needed for a long time and yet on the other hand, maybe we need to shake up our routine. Sometimes we become stagnant in our routine and we need to fight to get out from underneath the boredom and complacency.
Our bodies will plateau too if we are trying to make a change because it is easier to stay the same than to change, but if we want to change we will have to push a little harder, want it just a little bit more and work at it to make that change stick. We may even have to realize that we may slide back, but if the change is that worth it, we will work hard to get back at it and push back and get back into the effort of change.
So, ask yourself;
- Do you really want change?
- Why do you want to change?
- Are you willing to do what it takes to change?
- Do you know what you need to change?
- Do you know what you need to NOT change?
Before you start on another new thing, make sure you ask yourself a few of these questions. Make sure your reasons are clear and the choice you are making is the right one. Shaking things up can be the greatest, yet scariest thing we can do.
So, now go out there and either stay the course, keep moving forward, or shake things up with a change. After all, what is the worst that will happen? Really!!!
I can't change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination. – Jimmy Dean
