By Felix C. Veroya
Change is inevitable in life. You can either resist it and potentially get run over by it, or you can choose to cooperate with it, adapt to it, and learn how to benefit from it. When you embrace change, you will begin to see it as an opportunity for growth.” – Jack Canfield
All of us experience change in our lives. The magnitude of this change could range from simple to complex depending on the situation we are into. We may react to change in various ways – resist, adapt, leverage, or embrace the change are some of the most common forms of how to deal with it.
Cliché as it may sound but it is one thing that is constant in our lives and most of the time, we try to resist it as our common human tendency. We are afraid of what we do not know or the uncertainties this change can bring into us, thus, deflecting it most of the times. Looking it that way also rejects the idea of us looking into the opportunities this change can offer us.
In more than 10 years of my practice as an Industrial Engineer and Entrepreneur, I am operating in the areas of Continuous Improvement, Innovation and Analytics. These areas of practice have a common theme, that is, they all involve change. I have learned that if I want to be better in the practice I have chosen, I must learn how to manage change in very forms, both personal and professional. With this mind set, I was able to capitalize the effects of change and was able to achieve my goals in a much faster rate compared to what I planned.
Change will help you become a better version of yourself
Change enables us to become the person we envision us to be. Learning and mastering how to manage change will be one of the most rewarding experience you can have. This facilitates our need to work on our weaknesses or even develop our strengths will results to honing better versions of ourselves. When you think that your stagnant, it only means that you need to change something in yourself – looking for new opportunities, developing new skills, finding new hobbies, or starting out new ventures. These are few common actions that you can take into consideration when you feel this. I have been able to continuously learn new things and change that hats that I am wearing from time to time to continuously facilitate progress in both my personal and professional life. For may case, I see to it that I align my skills to what is currently needed in the industry and see to it that I learn and be apply them.
Change leads to opportunities and experiences
Each change that you experience is an invitation to try out new things or take leverage of new opportunities. Before you decline an invite to change, assess first what you can gain. We are easily swayed with the notion of the risks associated with changes but never consider the gains that we can capitalize once we embrace it. All we must do is to learn how to assess the risk and put controls on how to manage it. Remember, if you want to move from one state to another, you must change at least a factor to make it happen. If that change knocks on your door, do not shut the door, rather, let it in and assess the gains and risks. Accepting new job offers, trying out a business and meeting new people can help you experience the good things change can offer you. I have learned to accommodate all new things with the reference that I can learn a thing or two by engaging my self with these changes.
Change means progress
In the area of my practice, we have what is called Kaizen which means small positive changes or continuous improvement. Sometimes, we are discouraged of the pace of how we are achieving our goals. Once you feel this, try to look back and see how far you have become by taking the small steps, by changing one step at a time. Improvement entails changes and the degree of how we are changing varies per individual. If we continue to commit ourselves to positive changes in our lives, we will progress into the realization of our set goals. Just keep on going but also learn to pivot once you feel the need to do so. I have made several changes in my personal and professional career and I have seen how these changes helped me in achieving my own version of success.
Change is an essential experience that we need to grow. It is with change that we learn how to manage those that we can. There are risks associated that is why we need to assess and put contingencies. If we will always say no to change, we will not be able to move on from where we are now to what we want to become and have. Success can only be achieved if we will embrace changes in our lives.
