Change is a Good Thing

A lot has changed in the past 12 months. We won’t make a list. But it’s not about what has changed - rather it’s about how we’ve handled the shift, how we are adapting. Change is a good thing. It helps us learn, grow and expand our horizons. But change can be uncomfortable, change can be hard and change can be scary. 

As we enter 2021, we’re living in a world that’s still changing. While this is stressful and involves lots of uncertainty, this also gives us an opportunity to adapt and continue to grow stronger. What we continue to learn from change is that we are a lot stronger and more resilient than we think. 

Change broadens our perspectives.

When we experience unplanned transition, we are forced to be creative and think outside of the usual. The status quo is no longer good enough. We develop new ideas and experience new things that we likely never would have encountered otherwise. We learn and grow from change more than anything else. A shift in scenery and routine pushes us outside of our comfort zone and makes us approach things differently. 

Change forces us to control what we can control.

We hear this a lot, but what does that actually look like? Losing control can be stressful and we all know what that feels like thanks to 2020. Controlling what we can control is as simple as this: we can still determine what we do each day. Going for a walk every morning, ending work at the same time every day, saying no to unhealthy habits and saying yes to healthy ones - these are all things we have in our control. 

Our mindset is under our control too. Instead of looking at the negative, we can practice gratitude and look at the positive. Change forces us to focus on what really matters and what we have power to manage in our own lives. 

Change teaches us about ourselves.

When things start to shift, we learn a lot about who we are. Think about a major transition in your life. Maybe you graduated from school, left a job, started a new job or moved to a new place. What did you learn about yourself from that experience? Change teaches us valuable life lessons, and gives us insights into our own strengths and weaknesses. It shows us how resilient we can be and how adaptable we are. 

Most of all, change teaches us our limitations. Some limitations we set too low, and some we set too high. We may take on too much - change will force us to cut back and prioritize ourselves more as we start to burn out. Or perhaps we don’t push ourselves hard enough and our limitations are set too low - change can force us to do more and show us what we can really accomplish. 

Without change, we will never grow. Shifts and transitions springboard us out of our comfort zones and into a new perspective, a new opportunity and a new understanding of ourselves. By embracing change as a good thing, we allow ourselves to adapt, explore and experience more of life. As we start 2021, what change will you embrace this year? How will you learn from it and what growth will you experience? We look forward to continuing to embrace change. Let’s grow and innovate together.