Photo by Ross Findon on UnsplashGreek philosopher Heraclitus famously said, "The only constant is change." Like it or not, change is a part of all our lives!
Like many people, I often look at change in a positive light. Change is growth and new opportunities! This happened when I decided to leave a job that wasn't serving me anymore to start a new job in a different company.
When I received the job offer, I was ecstatic! I was about to start something new. New is good, right?
But change can be a double-edged sword. As soon as it hit me that I'd be leaving my colleagues and familiar work environment, I became anxious! What had I done? Was I ready to make this change?
In my journey to accept change as part of everyday life, these are the ways I have learned how to overcome the fear of handling change.
1. Change Requires Effort
When something in our life is altered, we need to adapt to the new. Adapting takes effort! Sometimes it requires more work than we anticipate and triggers a fear response.
As I prepared to start a new job and anticipated all the training this would require and how I need to start over to build new relationships with colleagues, I started to second-guess if I had made the right decision. What if they don't like me? What if I fail at the new job? Change take us outside of our comfort zone into uncharted territory.
Change is a risk! Fear is the response that asks, “Is it worth the risk?”
2. When Fear Takes Over, We Panic!
We take no action and hide...
...or we take action but make the wrong decision.
How do you typically react to change? Are you:
Excited?
Cautiously optimistic?
Avoidant?
Fearful?
3. Seize the New Opportunity!
When change happens, we leave something behind — but we gain something else in return.
When I left my job, I was leaving behind the security of doing work I was familiar with in the company of trusted colleagues. This was my safe space!
By reminding myself that I could use the skills and experience I had acquired in my previous job to build new experiences and success in my next job, I was able to confidently move forward.
By focusing on the rewards of potential gain, my fear of loss decreased over time.
4. Don't Put Things Off
Photo by Jonathan Klok on UnsplashFear leads to dread. Dread leads to procrastination. I was unhappy at my job, but I became complacent and stayed there for longer than I needed to. I was afraid of putting myself out into the job market and being rejected. I allowed fear to distract me instead of focusing on the big goal in front of me: finding something I truly enjoyed doing.
So I stopped making excuses and started to take action. Here's my advice:
Don’t procrastinate! Things don't get easier later.
Take action before you change your mind.
Stopping look down at your circumstances and focus ahead on the end goal.
5. Don’t Wait to be Motivated
How often have you laid in bed in the morning waiting to feel awake enough to get up? Guess what — that feeling usually doesn't arrive. That is me on a regular basis! Over time, I created a daily morning routine to get me out of bed.
To build determination to help overcome my fear of making changes, I have learned not to rely completely on motivation.Motivation levels can go up and down. They're not always reliable!
To get things done, I started to practice these steps:
Acting on my values instead of my feelings.
Being consistent with my actions
6. Weigh Your Outcomes
The biggest changes usually require major decision-making. Should I accept this job offer? When should I resign? These types of situations have led me to experience the crippling indecisiveness called analysis paralysis.
When this happens, I ask myself two questions:
What are the consequences if I make a change?
What are the consequences if I don’t make a change?
Examining my answers and weighing the outcomes has helped me understand how change will impact me. This has often helped me make wise decisions and effectively reduced the fear I have to handle change.
Quiz
Kelly is bored at her job of 5 years and not being challenged anymore. She has a good title and makes a good income. She is nervous about making a move elsewhere but is growing more frustrated with her job. Kelly should:
Take Action
"Courage is the resistance to fear, mastery of fear — not absence of fear." — Mark Twain
Photo by Dylan Hunter on UnsplashFear is a normal reaction to change! Even a positive change can generate some fear. Instead of letting fear control you:
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