7 Steps to Embrace Change
1. Keep an Open Mind
The first step toward accepting change is to hold back your initial skepticism. I try to do this by imagining the good that could come from change. No system or plan is perfect, so you may find something you like even better.
2. Focus on the Positives of the New Situation
In a similar sense, choose to focus your attention on the aspects of a change that you appreciate. When my old company was combined with a new company, I knew that certain colleagues whom I enjoyed would be moving on, but instead of dwelling on that, I focused on the fact that I would be able to work from home and have more time with my family.
3. Learn to Accept What You Can’t Control
There’s a time and place to push back against changes coming your way. But I’m emphasizing embracing change that is happening whether you like it or not. In that sense, I’ve found more inner peace from intentionally letting go of anything I can’t control. I just don’t give those things any space in my mind.
4. Give Yourself and Others Time to Adjust
When you start something new, it often feels a little difficult and strange. That feeling won’t last forever. Eventually, you’ll get used to new things and become better at them, and you may even come to enjoy them. That’s why giving yourself time before coming to a final judgment is best.
5. Leverage Change for Your Ends
Now that change has come your way, what will you do? Maybe you’ve developed a food intolerance that makes your current eating pattern unworkable. Instead of sulking and shifting your diet to mere compliance, consider taking the opportunity to reinvent your diet altogether to one that is healthier and more enjoyable.
6. Quickly Readjust Your Goals and Expectations
Most of us are working toward several goals at any given time, and have a set of expectations about what our life will look like in the future. Change can disrupt these plans. Instead of clinging to what made sense before, make a fresh start and reevaluate your life from a new perspective. Change is life’s way of keeping us from complacency, and we can be better off.
7. Assess What Can Be Learned and Preserved
Just because something changes doesn’t mean that you have to give up what you learned or liked about the way things were before. Having children has significantly reshaped how my wife and I spend our time, but we still go on childless dates and overnight trips to preserve something of those early days when it was just the two of us.