First Things First
First things first. If you are not entirely ecstatic about how your life is working, your first sensible move is to admit to yourself that things are not the way you want them to be. This is one of the most common hurdles that a great many people fail to cross. Fear of change may be standing in your way and preventing you from thinking about your problems. Admit that you are unhappy with the way things are and you will likely experience an immediate sense of relief.
Two Ways To Overcome Your Fear of Change
Once you admit that you are unhappy about something, that leaves you with two possible choices. Both involve overcoming your fear of change: 1) You can accept things as they are and look for ways to change your attitude to make the best of it (internal change), or 2) you can decide that you need to change something about your circumstances (external change). Sometimes it is enough to just change your attitude, but sometimes more is needed. There is a somewhat hackneyed saying, attributed to Albert Einstein, that “the definition of insanity is to keep doing the same thing while expecting different results”. There is thus a lot to be said in favour of choice number two.
Giving In To Fear Of Change Leads To Depression
Depression has reached epidemic proportions in our society. Ask anyone who is depressed about what is new in their lives and their answer will usually be “nothing”. Thus, one of the common factors in depression is getting stuck in a rut for far too long. However, it is not advisable to change just for the sake of change; that is not likely to cure your depression. There is a wrong way to change and a right way to do it. The right way is to find your life purpose and step into it. That is a sure-fire way to eliminate depression from your life.
Fear = Disempowerment. Excitement = Empowerment
You will most likely feel some resistance to changing. That is your inbuilt fear of change holding you back. It is quite normal. We all experience a certain amount of fear of change; it is linked to our survival instinct. Our mind exaggerates the possible dangers associated with doing something new or different in order to keep us in our comfort zone, (even if our current circumstances are far from safe). This is a reaction you will always have to face when contemplating change. How you deal with it will largely determine the quality of your life. You can interpret it as fear and this will disempower you – or you can interpret it as excitement and that will empower you.
Take a Moment To Think It Through
There is a simple way you can minimise your fear of change. All you need to do is sit down with a pen and paper and make two lists. One will be the advantages and drawbacks of not changing and the other will be the advantages and drawbacks of changing. This will give you a much clearer idea of which course of action is the more advantageous. That kind of clarity will make it much easier for you to move forward with your life in a constructive way. You may decide to change your circumstances, or merely to change your approach. Either choice will result in a better quality of life for you.
Take The Leap – The Best Way to Overcome Your Fear of Change
Change can be challenging, particularly if you are contemplating a major change, but once you have completed the above simple exercise, you will have a much better grasp of the “big picture” In addition, you will also have some useful ammunition at your disposal to assist you in overcoming your resistance. If that is still not sufficient to motivate you, then consider this: when people on their deathbed are asked what they regret the most about the life they are about to leave, their answer is almost invariably the same. They do not regret the things they did nearly as much the things they failed to do.
Wisdom Comes Through Experience
Wisdom comes from experience. You cannot gain experience if you always stay in your comfort zone. You will only gain experience from new things, so be prepared to boldly go where you have never gone before. It takes a bit of courage to try something new, but once you commit to it, it is usually far less difficult than you expected (and far more rewarding). The more you practice overcoming your fear of change, the easier it becomes. You will soon find that you welcome change – and live a more interesting, rewarding and varied life as a result.