My own moment of change
When the time came for me to embrace the change from employment to working for myself, I realised two things: One the conditions that I had set for the change from being employed to working full time for myself had been met. You can learn how to create a workable life plan here. Two, while I had thought about changing, I had never worked out the details of how I would make the shift. So I just had to trust the timing and the opportunity that presented itself to embrace change.
I had moments of sheer panic, knowing I could not turn back. But I also had several compelling reasons why I didn’t want to go back to the corporate life. The truth is, when I thought about all the things I no longer enjoyed about corporate, I knew I had to take a chance in this new space.
Why people dont embrace change
People fear to embrace transitions for many reasons. R. Moss Kanter cites fear of uncertainty as well as habit. In addition, concerns about confidence and fear of the pain caused by change, make people resist the adjustment they face. Cohen and Sherman classify major life events such as losing a job as psychological threats. This means that when someone perceives a threat to their capacity to control important matters they become vigilant. This trigger could lead to either positive adjustment or it may impede adaptation to the change.
How to reduce the perceived threat from change
One way to manage the threat from transitions is to use self affirmative acts. Such acts include spending time with family, attending a religious service. Even small everyday things like updating your social profile. These acts distract you from focusing on the threat of change. In fact, experiments have shown that writing about core values is another effective affirmative act. This exercise helps people broaden their perspective beyond the particular threat they are experiencing
New beginnings are necessarily also endings. They are vulnerable moments filled with immense opportunity and great fear of the unknown in equal measure. But if you don’t embrace the uncertainty and go with the flow of trasnsition, the beginning may remain just an end.
Try writing about your values, beyond the immediate threat. It will help you see the broader picture that change represents.