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CHANGE - CAN'T LIVE WITH IT? CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT IT!

Would change benefit your business? Do you feel that you could be reaching greater heights, if only you could learn to do things differently?

As humans, we are creatures of habit. Our tendency is to continue to do things the way that they have always been done. Creating change requires us to challenge our natural tendency to stick to our old ways of doing things - and often requires us to move outside our comfort zone. A low tolerance level for frustration can make us give up easily, or be reluctant to endure the discomfort that can come with working towards our goals. Often it is difficult for us to get started – as well as to persevere, especially when the going gets tough!

What is it that stops us from changing?
Change can be hard! But what is it really that is preventing you from changing? Is it the process? Is it the lack of emotional and physical support? Or is it simply the ‘fear of the unknown’? The more aware we are about our own strengths and weaknesses, and the more willing we are to admit our own limitations, the easier change will be. When we are asked to make changes, either in our professional or personal capacity, there are any number of things that may get in the way:

Sometimes our ego gets in the way and may prevent change from happening. Unfortunately, some people find it difficult to recognise that it is their own behaviour that is the cause of their problems, and they may go on in life wearing blinkers, or blaming others for their mistakes. This type of person may willingly offer someone else’s name as the root cause of the problem. If this type of behaviour is not identified, it may continue indefinitely and any chance of change will be limited.

Can someone who has workplace habits that they have been using for years, ever change? Put simply, the answer is ‘yes’, if the stakes are high enough. If a person decides that the goal they want to reach is far greater than the pain and discomfort that they will endure whilst making change, then there is a possibility. If however, the person feels that change is not worth the pain and discomfort, then the possibility for change could be remote. How high do the stakes need to be for you?

Fear can be one of the greatest obstacles of all to change. It can stifle our motivation and keep us stuck in an unhappy situation for years. So why do we fear change – when the rewards can be more than we have ever anticipated. It is normal to fear change, but it is how you think and feel about the change which is really the point. As humans, we learn to grow and change as the years go by. It is just that as we get older we get stuck in our ways – whilst when we were a young child, we wouldn’t think too much about the consequences of our actions. How can you overcome your fear?

What can you do to change?
When it comes to changing our workplace habits, or changing the way our business operates, we need to have some insight to our own behaviours, learning and developing an awareness of who we are, and why we react in certain ways to certain situations. These ‘insights’ can be quite startling for some people, as it is sometimes only when another person identifies specific behaviours that we become aware of exactly what we are doing and how efficiently, or inefficiently we are working.

Have you ever had to do something new and resisted, and resisted, and when you finally completed it – you realised that it wasn’t so hard after all! What are commonly referred to as ‘Mind Blocks’ are these thoughts, feelings and attitudes that stop us from making changes that we need to make.

For example, to bungee jump, requires you to have a rope tide around your ankles, and from a great height, jump off a ledge (of some description), into the air, relying on the rope to not to break! Now I don’t know about you, but for me personally, the thought of bungee jumping puts ‘fear of the unknown’ into me, which is at the forefront of why I won’t bungee jump. However, if I did make the jump, I am sure I would enjoy it - just please don’t hold me to it!

What does it take to change?
For a businessowner to change, you need to look at your individual habits, at how the business operates, and at how the staff are performing – so that it can be determined where there is room for change and what you would hope to achieve with change. To make changes in your workplace, whether it is for you as an individual or for your business, is not easy. Some people think there are such things as a quick fix – one that they can purchase in an instant. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way – it does take time to make changes, and can also take money, but again, the results can be worth it.

Even with external assistance, such as from a coach, consultant or psychologist, slipping back to our old ways can seem like the easy way out – especially when you are working in ‘stress mode’, it can be easy to fall back into bad habits and that change is ‘all too hard’.

Learning to make significant change to how we think and act can take considering inner strength. As the experts say, personal development can lead to professional development. If you want to change how you act, then change the way you think - and the results will follow.

So can you live with change in your life, or can you live without it? I know which one I have chosen.

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