Change is inevitable. Organisations and individuals are constantly required to adapt to the environment in which they exist in order to survive and thrive.
We all respond to change in our own way. And, to be honest, most of us resist change to varying degrees. This is not a sign of weakness or an innate human fault. Rather, it’s simply an expression of the fact that our brains become habitualised to particular ways of doing things. And it takes time, effort and a certain amount of emotional discomfort to create and embed the neurological circuits required to feel at ease with the new paradigm.
Think of how you feel when you change your work environment, learn a new IT system or have a difficult conversation with a colleague or stakeholder. Initially (at least for most of us!) these situations and events feel challenging and stressful, even painful! However, simply through practice, we become used to the new situation and experience a corresponding sense of ease.
So, given that we know resistance to change is inevitable, is it possible to accelerate this process of acceptance, of rehabitualisation? Is it worthwhile learning how to better manage our emotional reactions and thinking patterns, and more effectively embrace the process of change? In other words, is it in our interests to become more resilient to the ups, downs and variations of life? Fortunately, the answer to all of these questions is “Yes!”
And a great place to start is by developing our understanding of what resilience is, and how to go about improving it.
When any change happens we automatically experience increased stress arousal. This is a normal part of the feeling of being taken out of your comfort zone to any degree. Stress is only an issue if it becomes prolonged or excessive. Therefore, if we learn how to better manage our stress we build our change resilience. If we do this, and when those same or similar changes happen in the future, we can experience a relatively lower level of stress arousal. Find out how to build your stress resilience.
Go to: Building Your Stress Resilience notes
One of the normal consequences of change is for us to begin using our thinking mind (our prefrontal cortex) to problem-solve. This is a normal and healthy part of change management. However, we can tend to become lost in our thoughts beyond a point that is useful or healthy. This is when a concept called ‘mindfulness’ can be employed to help us recognise when we are becoming lost in thought, and consciously direct our attention onto something more useful. In other words, we can build our change resilience by building a resilient mindset.
Go to: Building a Resilient Mindset notes