How do you handle change?
Now, be honest here. Don’t be ashamed if it’s not as good as you’d like it to be.
The way I see it, no one really likes change. However, we all have the power to improve the way we perceive the very nature of change. If we stop seeing change as something that makes us uncomfortable, we can start seeing it as something priceless: an opportunity for greatness.
When you start operating from the mindset that change, albeit uncomfortable, can be harnessed to benefit our greater good, you won’t hide from it. In fact, you might even seek out uncomfortable situations because you know there’s something better on the other end.
Choosing Your Response to Change
Initially, change is a threatening, chaotic, and unbalancing force. It pushes us out of our comfort zones. Many of us have probably also had our fair share of bad experiences when dealing with change. As a result, we’ve come to associate change with losing something.
But here’s the key question: Is it the change itself, or the way we responded to the change, that is the core issue?
I’m of the opinion that it’s our response to change. This is especially true in business. When we face challenges or new situations, it’s up to us to make the best of it. If we’re scared, hiding, and not putting in the work, it’s natural that we won’t like the outcome.
On the other hand, if we bring our A-game when we’re confronted with changes that make us uncomfortable, the outcome will likely be different. Instead of the change leading up to a failure, it can enable us to succeed, win, and grow.
What path do you choose?
Getting Comfortable Being Uncomfortable
Something I always say is that we should strive to become comfortable with being uncomfortable. In saying this, I’m not saying we should fuel ourselves with stress and worry. What I am doing is implying that you’re proactively dealing with change.
Someone who is comfortable being uncomfortable has empowered themselves into a position where they can thrive when things don’t happen as planned.
As I said before, no one really wants to change. For most people, the status quo is fundamentally good. On the other hand, change is generally a bad thing.
However, change is crucial to growth. If you keep doing the same thing, you’re inviting the same results. Improvements only come when we test, define, and refine our paths to becoming "better."
For me, this is absolutely critical. It’s not so much that we want to seek out being uncomfortable — although that is a requirement for turning change into an opportunity for growth. Instead, it’s about embracing change rather than being stifled by it.
Evolving our own personal relationships with change makes us people who are comfortable being uncomfortable — because we know that we’re in a position to grow.
Be Your Own Extraordinary Force
There’s a fundamental law of physics called the Law of Inertia. It states that a body in motion tends to stay in motion, while a body at rest tends to stay at rest — unless there’s an extraordinary force applied to it.
We have to be prepared to be our own extraordinary force if we want to grow.
It’s true that some people are satisfied with complacency — which is itself a wonderful state of being. After all, complacency implies comfort… which we all love.
But I see things a little differently. I think the truth is that we’re either moving forward or moving backward. We’re either sinking or swimming, growing or reverting.
When faced with this choice, I’m going to choose growing every time. Naturally, growing means dealing with change. Change means being uncomfortable. Success means embracing those discomforts, overcoming the challenges, and persevering to a new point of growth.
Embrace Trial and Error
If the first choice is to sink or swim, then the next choice is finding the solution that enables growth.
This is where creativity comes in. We want to test out options until we find a viable solution, and then scale it so we can foster more and more growth. If we’re not constantly searching for that, we’re not putting ourselves in a position to grow. To take it one step further, we can’t be maximizing our creative capacity when we’re scared of change.
It’s pivotal that we begin rewriting our relationship with change from a negative story to a positive one. Achieving this means getting motivated and empowered enough to grow into our strongest selves.
This all starts with embracing change. Be brave and do your best.
Stanley C. Middleman
CEO President
Freedom Mortgage Corporation
