Tuesday 10 April 2007

5 Tips on How to Manage Change in Your Life

5 Tips on How to Manage Change in Your Life

Photo By N. Ireland Wallpapers / Desktop Backgrounds


One of the most difficult aspects of life is handling change. Life is full of change. It could mean changing job, moving house, a new relationship, the ending of a relationship - you name it! It can be stressful but don't forget the golden rule! We can't just FEEL stressed without first THINKING about being stressed.

Here are some tips that I have gotten from self help books that have worked for ME.

1) Anticipate Change.
Change can be happening around you without you realising it! Try and anticipate change. Look at patterns or trends that are happening right now. Perhaps they may be a prelude or indicate an important change on the horizon. Let me give you an example. Here in Ireland, more and more Information Technology jobs are being moved to low cost environments in Asia. My job may be safe in the short term but is it really sustainable? What happens in a couple of years time? I can clearly see a trend so perhaps I should think about re-skilling into a profession that is not likely to be moved abroad? You get my point?

2) Plan for Change.
If we continue with the example of my kind of employment being moved to Asia - what can I do to plan for this inevitability? What options do I have? Perhaps I should think laterally or "outside the box". I have time now to adapt but how long do I have left? The way I see it one should think of planning for change like being in a game of chess. To be successful you need to be able see a few moves ahead. What are the consequences of your action today on the future? What are the consequences of INACTION on the future? What skills do I need to adapt? What are my priorities?

3) Overcome the Fear of Change.
In my experience, we humans fear change. We love being "stuck in a rut" so to speak. We get accustomed to the life we have today and get great comfort in the routine of the day to day tasks of our lives. Maybe we are adverse to taking risks equally you need to ask yourself "Am I taking a bigger risk by not changing?". Maybe we are afraid of the UNKNOWN. If this is so then we need to develop trust that everything will be ok. Look at past experiences? Has everything worked out in the end? When I knew it was time for me to move on from living in Sweden - I was afraid. I had my friends in Stockholm! I had spent 8 years of my life there. I was "used to" the way things were but I knew deep down it was time to change. I had to take the leap and trust everything was going to be OK.

4) Be Kind To Yourself During Change.
No matter how hard you try - you will most likely find change stressful. It seems to be the natural order of things. Try and be kind to yourself during times of change. Take care of your health - both physical and mental. With your physical health, take good care of your diet and make sure you get some exercise to burn of those stress hormones. For you mental health make sure you get enough sleep, enough relaxation and if you are spiritually inclined now is the time to draw on that part of your life.

5) Expect to make mistakes.
Finally - expect to make mistakes. When you are trying something new you are bound to make mistakes for the first while. When I passed my driving test I remember not only how nervous I was driving by myself but I remember how many mistakes I made. I also remember how much I learnt and an overall sense of freedom which was worth all the risks and hard work of trying to pass my driving test in a foreign country AND in a foreign language!

I hope you find these tips on managing change helpful. I certainly feel that if you take these five lessons on board you will manage change in your life. Well, perhaps better than you did before.

Good Luck,
Allen

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