Why Embracing Change Is Better Than Worrying about Being Eaten!

Are you looking for ways to change and improve, or are you too busy watching out for dinosaurs? I’ll explain the randomness of that question in a moment, but meanwhile here’s an observation… 

If there’s one massive positive that has come out of the global Covid-19 Pandemic, it’s that more people than ever before have been given a nudge by the Universe to adopt a new paradigm of being open to change.  

So, how do you feel about the idea of change? 

Our ‘Go-To’ Response Patterns 

When it comes to the concept of change, I put it to you that there are three categories of human response.  

• The first group can be summarised as people who live their lives with a general attitude of being in fear of change. 
• The second group are people who seem to embrace change and thrive on it. 
• Thirdly, most people would probably be comfortable with some degree of change (as long as it’s perceived as being for the better) but would be uncomfortable with change affecting areas where they are ‘set in their ways’. 

As humans, our primary motivating force is to feel safe, and routines are familiar, so doing the same things, the same way, means that it’s one less thing for our brains to be concerned about. We learn tasks through repetition, whether it’s as simple as tying your shoelaces the same old way, to always putting the same leg first into your trousers or taking the same road home from the shops. We act on auto pilot because it frees up our attention to look out for the modern-day equivalent of dinosaurs that want to eat us. 

Yet how many of us have found ourselves missing a freeway exit or turning the wrong way because our brains have gone onto auto pilot? We were supposed to go to the newsagent but we habitually turn left instead of right at this junction on our way home, so our sub-conscious mind forgot all about the planned journey and went back to following our imbedded behaviour pattern. 

A Brave New World 

Here’s the thing though, we are in a world today that is going through massive change, and the degree of change is accelerating at an exponential rate. We have rapidly evolving advances in: 

• Science and technology 

• Communications 
• Artificial intelligence 
• Education 
• Agriculture and food production 
• Medical research and treatments 
• The arts 
• Our understanding of the human brain 
• Forces of Nature, such as ‘Climate Change’ 
• Transportation, including potentially inter-planetary travel 

I’m sure you could add much more to this list.  

Yet, despite all these changes, our fundamental need to feel safe, to survive another day and to reproduce so that our human race continues to survive after we ourselves have gone, remains fairly constant.  

What has become apparent though is that we all need to accept that change is inevitable. You can stand on a beach and tell the tide not to come in until you are blue in the face, but it will still come anyway! 

How Does This Affect You? 

Change is going to occur all around us, all the time, so we can deal with that and learn to adapt or we can fight it and as history has proven time and again, we will inevitably lose. We might stall it or postpone it by winning a few battles, but we will never win the war unless we accept that change is an unstoppable force. 

The reason the dinosaurs aren’t here anymore but we still are, is that as a species we have learned to change. Animals learn to adapt to their environment, but we humans adapt our environment to suit us. If it’s cold, we build a warm shelter with a fire. If it’s hot, we invent air-conditioning. If we need to get there quicker, we learn to ride a horse, invent bicycles, cars, trains, ships and now spaceships. Plus, we learned back in the days of cave painting that we can pass on our knowledge to each other, and to our descendants through rapidly evolving forms of communication. 

The main point that I begun with is that no matter which category of attitude we hold towards change as a concept – fear it, embrace it or pick and choose to suit the situation, we will all need to learn to manage our philosophy regarding its absolute certainty. 

Within literally just the first few months of 2020, the vast majority of the human race have learned and applied concepts, such as ‘lockdown’, social distancing, wearing protective equipment, self-isolating, and adapting businesses to suit changing social dynamics and governmental regulations on an unprecedented scale.  

Even the simple handshake, originally an act of demonstrating that I’m not going to harm you because I have no weapon in this hand, has evolved into an elbow bump or a foot tap.  

Change can in some cases generate a sense of overwhelm for people. We can become traumatised by having to accept change against our wills. Some will become depressed. Some will fail to cope and succumb to depression or even suicide. Some will fight it but inevitably capitulate. Businesses will adapt and survive, with some even thriving, whilst others will crash and burn.  

As they say in the movies, ‘You can be part of the problem, or part of the solution!’ 

Innovation and Progress – Need any Advice?  

I work with people to help them develop strategies for effective change. Whether it’s self-improvement in terms of learning new skill sets, new behaviour patterns or identifying obstacles or limiting beliefs and adopting a new mindset, or in creating or updating their business model or business tactics. 

Whether my philosophies or style of delivery resonate with you or not, I’d urge you to adopt a belief in the need for continuous improvement and to seek out mentors and coaches who can guide you to learn, to innovate, and to change, in every way necessary. 

If you agree with my assertions, or you feel a little discombobulated by ‘change’, then feel free to follow my social media posts and/or blog posts, to read my book ‘If Life’s Worth Doing, It’s Worth Doing Well’, attend one of my masterminds, workshops or webinars, or contact me to arrange a chat about your situation. Plus, watch out for my online courses coming soon to a Universe near you! – See, I’m changing too 😊 

Meanwhile, stay safe and sane, be grateful for another day alive on this wonderful Earth and be kind to one another.