A time of change can make our lives seem difficult. But it also brings us opportunities.
We can understand this more deeply when we realise four things.
The first is 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 we planned or expected at the start. It’s not just us, it’s everything. (Just look at the news stories this week.)
Realising this and accepting it enables us to let go of our emotional attachment to achieving particular outcomes and yet still do our best to achieve them. Then, if things don’t turn out in the way we wanted, it becomes easier to find a new way forward. 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 realisation is that if we can’t rely on the outside world to bring us the stability we need then it is more important than ever for us to create our own internal stability and direction. We can achieve this when we deeply understand our purpose, our values and what a worthwhile life looks like to us. And the more deeply we accept who we are and who we most want to become, the better we will be able to respond with focus, flexibility, and enthusiasm to whatever happens. Because, as Zig Ziglar said:
“When obstacles arise, you change your direction to reach your goal; you do not change your decision to get there.”
The third step is to realise that ten years ago we did not have the skills we have today. We acquired these skills directly as a result of the challenges we faced in the past. So whatever challenges we think we face today are actually opportunities for us to become whoever we most want to become. And we get to choose which challenges we ignore, which we engage with, 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 be able to choose the opportunities that inspire us most.
This brings us to the fourth 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 are going to become in five or ten years from now. We are always changing, always 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 is just the way it is.
So don’t be afraid to fail, choose to grow into the person you should have been all along.
Adapted from The Churning, Inner Leadership: a framework and tools for building inspiration in times of change.
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