Let’s get one thing straight upfront ….
You Do
Not Have
To Change.
It is your right to remain the way you are and you are entitled to be that way.
However, having said that, if you are not happy with the things in your life or parts of your life, then this article may be for you.
Why Most I Change?
It would great to just simply answer this question by simply responding with a bunch of quotes. I would like to think that we all have heard one or two of them in our life time and I could write a few of them here! I am not sure how much good it would do you, as much of it you‘ve heard before in some shape or form.
I have always lived by a simple quote that I have applied to my life. That is “change before change changes you.” I have seen this simple quote play out time and time again in my life.
I was 22 years old and fresh out of college, I got my first job as a computer programmer and I was so excited! I moved to another city anxious to move on to the next stage of my life. I met all of the new people at my job and everyone seemed so big to me at the time.
I remember our first companywide meeting. We were all assembled in a huge area and a new person walked in. I did not recognize them as I had only been there a week and surely could not have met everyone. I did notice I did not see the CEO or his assistant, whom I had seen previously address everyone. There was a good reason I did not see them.
They had both been terminated along with 10% of the workforce. Also everyone across the board received a 10% pay cut. I was spared as I had only been there a week and was new. I will never forget the silence that fell upon that room. To say you could hear a pin drop was an understatement. I could hear people breathing!
The CEO had failed to foresee the impact of new technologies on the company and make the necessary changes to address them in a timely manner. As a result company revenue was decreasing along with market share. Internal cost was increasing but solutions to remedy the problems were just not being implemented.
Later as I was walking from one department to another down a hallway that connected the two, I ran into the CEO’s secretary in the hallway balling. She said she did not what she was going to do and she was very concerned about what was to happen to her and her children. I can still hear her. As I stepped through the doors into the next office, I remember thinking to myself; change is the only constant in life so get prepared. I vowed at that moment, I would embrace change as it is simply a part of life.
The reality is change is inevitable in all parts of life. It is part of evolution. This the great challenge of life. Sometimes you will get a choice of when to change and sometimes you wake up one morning and it is sitting at the foot of your bed.
I wish I could tell you that I was an expert on change. However, I am not sure anyone is. Remember change is a choice, you don’t have to! However what I do know for sure, “change before change changes you!”
