Change: 4 Steps to a Positive Experience

Too often we say, “I don’t like change!”

Poor “change” has developed a bad rap for itself. The act of change can either improve us or destroy us; the choice, though, is in our hands. The solution to dealing with it is to learn to respond positively, even to embrace change!

Experiencing change is like moving from one place to another. I remember years ago moving to our very first purchased home and not quite feeling settled in there the first few weeks. Imagine, I almost longed to be back at the old house, which was a rental property. Somehow, it seemed like the move I had made was like moving while standing still in the same spot. It was only when I looked for the good things in the new place that my heart began to be there. And, we all know, where the heart is, that’s where the home is too.

Positive Step #1

Put your heart into any change you tackle. Get positively excited about it no matter what it is.

Notice I had to do some serious changing with my thinking. Yes, we had physically moved but my mind was still stuck with thoughts about the old place. Changing our thoughts does not come easily. You must learn to adopt a new way of thinking, which is as hard as adopting a new child, but the fruits are just as rewarding.

Start by identifying the benefits you can gain from making the change happen. At the same time, recognize the consequences of what would happen if you don’t.

Positive Step #2

Learn to create positive affirmations regarding the change at hand. Reflect on how you will learn and benefit from this new experience.

Stop for a minute. Where would you be today if not for some of the changes that have happened to you in your life? No matter whether they were sad and negative life events or thrilling and positive. Life is all about changing.

Have you noticed? You’re not the little boy or girl that appears in those photos in the family album. Life is more about becoming who you’re supposed to be rather than staying just as you are. Wow! Who would have thought change could be so exhilarating?

Positive Step #3

Okay. Have you checked yourself out to see what you have become since going through your multiple life changes?

Some people have asked me where I would be if I had not gone through my business failure and selling our house in 2002. Or what about my son’s serious car accident and severe brain injury nine years ago.

First off, I would not be the same person I am today. In fact, my business challenges from years ago eventually resulted in my working for Rideau Recognition Solutions. For that, I am extremely grateful. I have been to 13 countries around the world helping global clients with getting employee recognition right. I have made contacts and friends with some remarkable people who make a difference in the world. I could never have known, way back then, what I know now.

Secondly, when I talk to my son about the difficulties in completing his undergraduate university degree he has gone through as a result of his car accident, I know I personally have felt bad for him. I told him this one day and he gave me an immediate response. His powerful life perspective was simply, “But Dad…I’m alive.”

Positive Step #4

What can you learn from a change experience to see how you have grown?

In his office, my CEO, Peter Hart, has a well know quote from the Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw, which says, “Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.”

Progress begins with change and cannot happen without it. Your role in this world is to become a positive change agent in your own life and in the lives of those you work and live with.