Old Ways Won’t Open New Doors

I’ve been writing a positive mindset for business owners presentation this week which has led me to look at some positive mindset images on the internet for inspiration.  ‘Old ways won’t open new doors’ came from one of those images and it got me thinking about how well we embrace change.  Or not.  There can be lots of ‘shoulds’ around embracing change; that we should be able to do it better, that we should be able to keep pace with continued changes, at work in particular and that we should be able to lead others through change even when we’re totally flippin exhausted by what’s going on around us.  Most of us will find change difficult to some degree.  That might be about your personality type, past experiences or your current situation but one thing is for sure.  If you expect yourself to sail through life, embracing change constantly without any impact, you could be setting yourself up for difficult times.

Comfortable and Familiar 😊

As human beings we like to feel settled; to adopt roles that we’re familiar with, even if they’re not great for our wellbeing unfortunately and to exist in environments that are familiar to us.  If change is cast upon us it can make us feel unsettled, discombobulated and anxious.  It’s totally normal to feel like that.  The key to surviving and thriving through change is to acknowledge those feelings, recognise that you can adapt to new environments well and feel confident about making some form of transition.  If you dig your heels in and resist change, it will usually happen anyway but the transition will be much more painful than it needs to be, for you and other people.  Old ways won’t open new doors and sometimes we all need a new door, with a fresh lick of paint to re-energise and motivate us.  Change can be positive!

Change Fatigue – Seen It All Before!

There are lots of reasons why people resist change and in business that can often be because we feel that we’ve seen it all before.  We’ve been to the strategic launch meetings, seen the big hoorah and then seen very little happen for weeks, months and years after that.  There are only so many of those gigs that we can endure before we start to feel jaded and less than excited about the new hoorah.  Another reason for a resistance to change is fear.  Fear that we might not be needed in a new structure, fear that we might not be up to the new job, fear that we won’t have a role in a new environment or a fear that a new environment will be less comfortable for us.  People might want more from us than we’re prepared to give.  Why can’t things just stay the same?!  All of those fears are completely normal; the difference between us is whether we feel the fear and do it anyway, and we open some new doors or we feel stuck and unable to move on which can often be a less than comfortable place ultimately.

Are You In Charge of You?

If you have the courage to embrace change and open new doors, or make strong decisions about whether a change is acceptable to you, you will be in control of your destiny however uncomfortable that might feel at times.  If you let change swirl around you but you sit, gripped with fear, desperately hoping that the new environment will settle around you and allow you to carry on as you were, you’ll be less in control of your destiny.  You’ll be waiting for someone else to open new doors for you but they might be more worried about their own doors, and so are less bothered about yours ☹  Only you can decide if and when a change is right for you but if you’re waiting on other people to do the right thing, you might be waiting a while.  Ultimately, you can only look after yourself and so other people will be doing that too.  They might look out for you when change occurs but I don’t think that’s someone else’s responsibility personally.  You’re in charge of your destiny and so you need to be in charge of your decision-making.  One thing is certain, your wellbeing can certainly be improved if you’re brave enough to make assertive decisions.  Being in control of your own destiny can be hugely empowering! Of course it’s scary but the old ways won’t open new doors so I guess the choice is yours.

I Should Change

I met a lady this week who said she didn’t like change but felt she probably should look for another job just in order to do something different.  As we chatted she told me how supportive her boss had been during some difficult times last year and generally that it was a good place to work.  “So why would you move jobs?!” I asked.  “It sounds like this is a great set up”.  She replied that she was happy in her role and with the company but she felt she probably should (that flippin word!) do something else.  Let’s be clear, change has a toll, on your physical, emotional and mental wellbeing.  That might be in a small way, in that you’re more tired for a while because you’re learning a new role for instance or the impact might be more significant.  But by acknowledging the impact of a change you’re more likely to navigate your way through it successfully, to look after yourself, exercise great self care and come out the other side feeling positive and strong.

Pick Your Moment, If You Can

There are times in your life when you might be totally up for changing your circumstances and others when it’s not the right time.  If other things are going on in your life, you might need all of your energy to focus on those things so change is not something you’ll readily embrace.  For now.  The choice is ultimately yours; to make changes, to open new doors, or not.  Change will feel uncomfortable, that’s a given so please don’t think you’ll glide through it without a scratch, whatever the aspect of change is.  But the fact that you’ve tried can really make you smile 😊

Don’t Bite The Hand That Feeds You!

I’ve been catching up with some episodes of The Hotel Inspector this week and in one episode, Alex Polizzi had given a couple a plan of action for their bed and breakfast business which they seemed happy to embrace.  However, when she phoned to tell them that she’d arranged for 13 people to come and stay at the B&B in two days time, the lady said “I knew she’d do that!”.  As if she was outraged because this major change to their business should happen without any pain at all shouldn’t it?!  Outraged that this person who’d come to help her was requiring her to put in more effort and change her ways. Which massively worked by the way! 😊 Change has feelings of fear, discomfort, being unsettled, nervousness, anxiety, stress, discombobulation and doubt attached to it.  The irony is that you might feel all of those things if you don’t change your situation, because you’re more likely to feel done to, put upon and taken for granted.  So if you’re going to feel those things anyway, you might as well benefit from the open, new doors hadn’t you?  Instead of standing back and holding the door open for someone else.  That definitely is a waste of your energy.

Take good care please, smash through or paint some new doors and have a fab week!

Best wishes, Karen

Email: kw.innerstrength@outlook.com