How do you deal with change?

Our ability to generate good CHANGE in our life is due to our power of choice. Now you may ask what is the definition for “change”?

Change means making someone or something different; alter or modify. Or replacing (something) with something else, especially something of the same kind that is newer or better. 

Do you have difficulty planning your month ahead of time? Perhaps you have no difficulty making plans, but due to some circumstances, these keep changing. In our professional life, change is constant, and it means that change is occurring continuously. This should be an expected condition in life. Every day, whether it's a simple shift in the weather, our schedule, our jobs or roles, or the predicted change of seasons, we all encounter change. Sometimes it can be really stressful.

Internal changes vs external changes

There are two types of change in our lives. The first type of change is an ‘intentional change’, which means you are making changes intended to make your life better, easier, and less stressful. We can consider these changes as an internal change as it encourages progress.

Internal changes will help you focus, and it enables you to become the person you want to be. Remember, you are your own boss. Therefore, you need to continuously change by improving your lifestyle, developing your skills, changing your routines, and changing your location. If you are not happy about where you work or where you live, then you can easily move to where you enjoy being. Remember you are not a tree, it is perfectly acceptable to ‘uproot’ yourself to better your quality of life.

 On the other hand, there are some unexpected changes in life which you least expect to happen. But these changes do occur! We can consider these uncontrollable changes as an ‘external change’, which will give you the experience and drive to push forward. These adjustments will frequently have a significant impact on our careers. These changes will teach you new things, whether they appear to be good or unpleasant at that moment in time. Change makes a person adaptable, understanding and prepared for the future. Because these changes occur without prior antecedents, they are usually stressful for us.

 But you know what? You can easily decline these changes if you are not ready to accept them. However, you must weigh the advantages that a new experience or opportunity may offer to you or your project. Taking chances and dealing with failure is all part of the life and life without these changes has no meaning!

Fortunately, there are ways to adapt to change, and even to take advantage of it.

 Instead of focusing on your worries, think about your goals and values.

Many troubles and unexpected changes may be ailing us, but keep in mind that there are many important people and activities in your life which can inspire you and keep you happy. These things that make you happy may include your family, friends, interests, music, movies, your favourite sport, or many other things. So, don’t let it bring you down. What I personally do once I face a new change in my life, is to start writing down my thoughts on a piece of paper and then I write possible decisions and I consult with trusted and accepted people. Getting practical advice from trusted people always helps you grow and decreases your stress level.

Write it down and you will find a solution

The idea that we can "get over '' our anger, fears, and disappointments by talking about them a lot is one of the most popular illusions about coping with undesirable changes. That isn't always the case, though. Indeed, studies demonstrate that purposefully and persistently broadcasting unpleasant emotions thwarts our natural adaptation mechanisms. This is one of the reasons why talking about the problem over and over makes you feel worse. For some people, constant discussion will remind them of the issue at hand. Personally, I believe writing and exploring pros and cons helps me reach the best decision. Sometimes, we are overwhelmed with many thoughts, changes, concerns, and issues and we really don’t know where to start!

 How can we actually overcome this fear and anxiety? The truth is we have to write them down and start making a decision for the one which is easiest and tick that box. Once you see you have made a good decision or made the right decision for the first concern then you will get the power to solve others.

Change means progress

Things change in life and that’s why we are living life! Life without changes doesn’t allow us to grow. Sometimes we just look forward and we don’t have time to look back at how far we have come and reflect on how well we progressed.

Take time for reflection. Keep note of your achievements and changes- even small ones time to time! - and celebrate them to motivate yourself ☺

Your goal should always be to improve, and the best way to achieve that is to implement improvements like training and learning.

We face changes in business too!

Not every company, manager or employee is receptive to change, but we are! We are and will always be open to changes and new challenges especially during this uncertain time. During this pandemic, we were able to turn restrictions into opportunities. We launched our first vegan beetroot shot and we welcomed three new interns to our team by participating in the Government Kickstart Scheme. We collaborated with brands, we were nominated as an exceptional performance start-up and much more.

We also focused and developed a new PR strategy and had interviews with big names like the BBC! So, it is possible to progress while we are living in an uncertain time and facing unwilling challenges.

You are always free to accept or reject changes, but before you do, please step back and think about both advantages and disadvantages of the decision you make. Then you are happy and proud of every decision you make because you made that decision with prior knowledge.

So now you tell us, what is your story? When was the last time you faced unexpected changes? How did you deal with that?