Tip #3 – Be Accepting

As I write this and reflect on the past few months, I realize I am accepting that I am not a typical blogger! Change has consumed us since January.  A lot of great things have happened and I feel quite together when I realize I have matching shoes on each day.  We sold and bought homes, moved our life and my business (and one reluctant teenager) started new schools and jobs and are officially replanted back in our home state of Texas.  And as of today, we officially have a high schooler in the family.  All is well, hectic but well!

Life is about change and how we manage through change obstacles can create defining moments.  Realizing and learning to accept that we all do the best we can is the “get outta jail free” card of our game of monopoly life.

Most people either like or dislike change.  Are you uncomfortable with the unknown or excited by it? A dear friend of mine once told me she used to cry when her Mom rearranged the furniture.  As a change-agent, this was both wildly comical to me and quite foreign.  It also shined a bright light on the fact that we each approach the unknown from our own unique set of experiences and through our own lens.

Any way you slice it, understanding how you deal with change and preparing for it when possible, can be, well, – a game changer.  Here are a few considerations that could help make things a bit smoother for you as you manage through any change:

OBSERVE

Study and know you!  Information is power.  Observe how well you adapt to change.  What changes have you lived through and what, if anything, allowed you to thrive during change?  What have you experienced that could have triggered a negative response to change?  What might be different this time? What helps you the most during change? Get inside your brain and learn what makes you tick and what ticks you off about change.

CONNECT

How can you work with others involved in the change so they understand your perspective and you equally understand theirs? I love change and my daughter hates it.  As I was giddily diving into our move home to Texas, she was freaking out.  The more I understood and accepted the difference, the more I was able to help her through her transition.  I also stopped playing the eyes of Texas each day, or at least turned down the volume.

ACCEPT

For those avoiding or denying change, look in the mirror and ask what you are avoiding and why.  If you have the power to keep the change from happening, and that serves you the best, then fight the good fight and make it happen.  If not, listen up.  Logically, we know change is inevitable.  Is this change something you can survive?  If it is happening and out of your control, ask yourself what you might learn from it.  How might this change benefit someone else? If you open up that window of acceptance for change just a bit, you might be amazed at what could happen and what you might discover.