By Stacey Brake
Last week, I shared a couple of strategies for feeling more joy in a situation that you can't change.
But what about situations that you CAN change? How do you know when it's time? How do you prepare to take a big leap?
From a neurological standpoint, change is always difficult.
Three reasons that we resist change are:
- Fear of the unknown. We even have a saying for this. The devil we know is better than the devil we don't know.
- Perceived threats. What if we fail? What if it doesn't work out? What if it is the wrong decision?
- The discomfort associated with needing to unlearn and rewire the brain. The more we have done things one way, the more discomfort we will feel creating a new neural pathway. It takes time, practice and patience. Sometimes we are so busy, we don't feel that we can add to our list.
Even when we believe the change would be good for us, we have resistance. To keep yourself on the forward path ... To avoid staying stuck ... There are some things you can do.
But, possibly the most valuable of all is this ...
Start with a true assessment of WHY you want (or need) this change. Do you have something that is compelling enough to pull you through the hard times?
Take some time to reflect and make some commitments as to WHY this change really does matter. Write it down and put it somewhere that you can see it frequently.
Having a compelling reason to keep going will give you the strength to work through and make the change that you want and need!