Hello and welcome to my podcast. I’m Nicola from The People Mentor and in this podcast, I want to talk about how to think of change as a teacher and not as an enemy. This podcast was recorded in Covid times but much of what it contains is still relevant today.
I always say that one of the few certainties in life is change. Sometimes, we’re merrily coasting along, then along comes life and throws us a curveball and everything changes.
To say that 2020 has been one huge curveball would be an understatement. This year has brought upheaval that many of us have never seen in our lifetime, and when change is unexpected and unwanted, it can be harder to deal with.
The pandemic has been a fast-moving situation and many of us have lived on a rollercoaster of fear, loneliness, grief, and anxiety for many months.
These kinds of feelings make you long for the undesirable situation to come to an end, and for things to return to what they were like before.
But what if the lesson we need to take from all this is that we shouldn’t go back to how things were before? What if things could be better?
If you were initially left reeling by suddenly having to work from home and home-school the children, did you eventually realise that you didn’t miss your commute every day?
Did you start to appreciate having some extra time with the family?
Did you maybe get back to doing a long-forgotten hobby that you finally had time for because the pace of life slowed down?
Maybe going back to living life fast and living it on autopilot isn’t the best thing for you.
So now, instead of thinking about the negative impact of the changes that have been forced upon you, I want to challenge you to think about what has been better and what could be even better going forward.
What has the journey through all of this been like for you?
Where are you at this moment?
What do you want your future to be like and what lessons do you want to take with you on the journey?
This could be your chance to make a change for the better and set yourself on a more positive path.
So, Nicola, I hear you say, how on earth do I get my head around change when it’s on this sort of scale?
Well, I want to share some tips with you on how to embrace change and feel a bit more in control of things. Just a little reminder, if you feel like you don’t have control over anything, I want you to know that you do.
You can choose your perspective of the change.
You can either focus on the negative impacts and make yourself feel helpless, anxious, and stressed, or you can think about what has got better since the change happened.
Looking at things through a more positive lens makes it more likely that you’ll feel empowered to keep moving forward and making positive decisions about the kind of future you’d like to create for yourself.
So with that in mind, here are my tips.
Firstly, lose the belief that something ‘should’ happen in a certain way. Life is not like that. Sometimes, things work out in the way that you’d hoped, and sometimes they don’t.
The important thing is not to lose perspective when things go wrong. Valuable lessons can be learned from even the worst of circumstances.
Next, acknowledge that change happens in life and it shouldn’t be denied or resisted. This will only cause you stress and suffering. Things change and people change, and sometimes this is for a good reason.
The next stage is accepting that change has happened, rather than allowing yourself to feel powerless. Accepting change is quite freeing and it makes you feel able to think ‘Okay, this has happened, now how do I move forward?’
Another thing about change is that it always brings lessons with it. So from this pandemic, you might have learned about what is important to you and that you need to look after yourself better.
Instead of thinking ‘Why me?’ when change happens, ask ‘What can I learn from this and how can it help me move onwards and upwards?’
When you stop resisting change and see it as an opportunity for learning and growth rather than as a disaster, you will become even more resilient.
The changes and challenges you face in the future will no longer feel insurmountable because you realise that change is not fatal, it’s a place from which you can achieve amazing personal growth and a renewed sense of well-being and positivity about the future.
Remember that resilience is not about never having to face adversity and challenges, it’s about dealing with those challenges from a different perspective.
I challenge you to start thinking about change as a teacher rather than as an enemy.
How hopeful are you feeling about the future?
2020 has brought change, uncertainty, and upheaval on an unimaginable scale and it’s been a real test of our resilience.
But now is the perfect time to reflect on where you are now, where you want to be, and what you want to take with you into the future. If you are reading this in later years it is still worthwhile to sit down and use these questions.
If you need some support to feel more positive about what is currently going on in your workplace, then“The People Mentor Leadership Club for Women” will support you and give you the space to explore the way forward.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this podcast and you got some good tips on how to think more positively and become more resilient. See you next time!
This is The People Mentor, signing off.
