Experiencing change
We all experience change in our lives. Whether it’s in the form of a change at work or a change in our personal lives. If you have experienced frequent change, you may have come to the conclusion that from time to time taking active steps to bring change prevents it being forced upon you. So, if change happens, regardless of how it comes about, what can we do to deal with it better?
Change feels uncomfortable
Dr Maltz developed a theory based on a study of his patients in the 1950s. The study found that it takes an individual a minimum of 21 days to get used to a change. With this in mind, no one should expect to be at ease overnight. Therefore, if change happens and most of us feel uncomfortable about it, how do some lucky individuals seem to deal with it so well?
You know the successful people we’re talking about, the individuals who get excited at the prospect of change! The people that seem to be relishing in the process itself, the people or businesses that make the right changes for the right reasons, and are therefore able to ride it out until they’ve achieved what they set out to do. No one’s expecting you to start jumping for joy at the idea of change! However, you can learn some simple strategies for dealing with it effectively from the successful people who deal with it so very well.
3 ways successful people deal with change
Success is interpreted differently by different people and different businesses. As a result, our ‘Crazy’ goal could involve the quality of the service we deliver, for others the career ladder we climb. Whatever the goal that might deem you successful there’s a good chance you will need to navigate your way through change to get there. Learning from those that have successfully dealt with changes to achieve their goals can bring value to our own experiences.
Navigating change successfully starts with how we think about it! Here’s three strategies successful people use:
Make the change easy
Harriet Beveridge is a performance coach, the co-author of Will It Make The Boat Go Faster?, a mother and now a comedian. So, she has got pretty familiar with change. However, she knows to expect a certain level of discomfort during change. Harriet’s understanding of the need to make it impossible not to change has helped her achieve the things she wanted to do.
Instigate change like an Olympian
Ben Hunt-Davis and his rowing crew used the opportunities “doing things differently” could bring to win their gold medal at the Sydney Olympics. Not only did they instigate change, and by doing so made changes on their own terms, they actively looked for changes that could benefit their performance and help them reach their ‘Crazy’ goal.
Convince yourselves and others to change
Richard Hanrahan, Director at Agilisys had spotted an opportunity to do things differently. He wanted his team to set a ‘Crazy’ goal to work towards, but he needed to convince everyone else to come on board. Richard had clarity about why the change was necessary and truly understood the upsides. Therefore, he was able to share the benefits with his team and allow them to be a part of developing what doing things differently should look like.
For further insights into making change happen and handling it better pick up a copy of the Will It Make The Boat Go Faster? book here.
