In our world it seems the only thing we can be certain of is change. When we are born, we grow and change, our habits change, our likes changes, our friends change…everything changes.
Somehow when we come into adulthood, we are expected to have gained some supernatural ability and “have it all figured out”, this sentiment is true at home, in our social circles, at work, with our kids…everywhere.
The truth is, we have never been fed a bigger or more useless lie. We are seeing in companies where people are encouraged to learn, grow, make mistakes (i.e. change), innovation is magnified. We see with athletes who are open to trying new ways of training (i.e. change), they outperform their peers and break world records. We see countries that implement policies that are different (i.e. change) gain massive positive strides, even personally when we do new things (i.e. change) we get better. So why is the fear of change (something which has proven to be positive and not going anywhere) so suffocating?
Well, you can thank your brain. Our brains are lazy and want to be as efficient as possible (weird combo I know), they learn how to do things a certain way and develop roadmaps (neuropathways) and those roadmaps eventually become our “default” mode. This is applicable on a micro and macro scale.
The not-so-great news is that to change these pathways / roadmaps… you need to put in work and be okay with getting pretty uncomfortable at times.
The good news is, these pathways were not hired wired at birth, they are changeable, they are not WHO YOU ARE or HOW THINGS ARE, they are just one way in which you learned how to do things / think/ react etc. They were learned, which means: You are able to learn new and different things anytime you choose.
Change is not comfortable, but change is the only path to true growth. I once read “A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for”.
Get out there, be brave, and take on change in whatever form it shows up.