A time of change can make our lives seem difficult. But it also brings us opportunities.
We can understand this deeply when we take four steps.
The first is to realise that it’s not just our own life that is becoming more difficult to predict and control but the entire world. So many changes are happening in technology, politics, society, and the environment that any project, started by anyone, is likely to turn out differently from the way they planned or expected. It’s not just us, it’s everything.
Realising and accepting this enables us to let go of our emotional attachment to achieving a particular outcome and yet still do our best to achieve it. And then, if things don’t turn out in the way we wanted, it is easier to move on. This is the attitude that enabled Thomas Edison to invent the lightbulb. Each time he failed he said, “I have not failed, I’ve just found 10,000 ways that don’t work.”
The second step is to realise that if we can’t rely on the outside world to bring us the stability we need then it is more important than ever to give ourselves that internal stability and direction. We can achieve this by deeply understanding our own purpose and values and what a worthwhile life looks like to us. And the more deeply we know who we are and who we most want to become, the better we will then be able to respond with focus, flexibility, and enthusiasm no matter what happens.
Then, as Zig Ziglar put it,
“When obstacles arise, you change your direction to reach your goal; you do not change your decision to get there.”
We take the third step by realising that ten years ago we did not have the skills we have today. We have those skills directly as a result of the challenges we faced in the past. So what might seem like challenges today are actually opportunities for us to become whoever we most want to become. And we get to choose which challenges we walk away from, which ones we accept, and how we respond. We are in control of our reactions to this churning world. And the clearer we are about what matters most to us, the more easily we will then be able to choose the opportunities that inspire us most.
This brings us to the fourth step: the realisation that we are not just human beings we are human becomings. We are not the same people we were a year ago, let alone five or ten years ago. And we are certainly not the same people we will become, five or ten years from now. We are always changing, becoming. And the person we become tomorrow is determined by the choices we make today.
In this time of change, no-one can predict what is going to happen. That’s just the way it is.
So don’t be afraid to fail, choose to grow.
Adapted from Inner Leadership: a framework and tools for building inspiration in times of change.
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