Do you find change scary? If so, anything new feels frightening, overwhelming and stressful to you. And you probably avoid both change and novelty.
I get it. I’m not too keen on change myself. Sometimes just going to a new restaurant stresses me out.
On the other side of the spectrum, though, new experiences excite me. They charge me up and keep me feeling happy, inspired, and creative.
Plus, I’m always looking for ways to improve myself. So change, albeit difficult sometimes (and scary), is part of my life—especially as a Certified High Performance Coach.
I’ve written about fear often. I believe it keeps you jailed.It stops you from doing things—even things you say you want to do.
How do you get out of jail? Change your belief system about change and novelty. See “new” and “different” as positive and as something you handle well…every day.
You Experience Change Daily
Consider this: Every day you wake up to a brand new day. You hardly think about this. You just wake up, open your eyes, and get on with the day.
You don’t think, Oh, no! It’s a new day! I’m too scared to get out of bed. Everything has changed…the date, the time, the moon, the sun, even me! I’m different! Ack! And you don’t then squeeze under the bed and hide until the new day ends.
No. You get up, and you move through your day as if nothing had changed at all. And…nothing does change from that perspective.
Consider this, too: Every moment is a new one never before experienced by you or anyone else for that matter. But you don’t spend your day watching the clock and thinking, Oh, no! The minute hand is about to move. Help! Another second…and another…and another…has arrive. It’s another new moment! And you don’t duck under the nearest table to avoid the new minute or hour.
No. You hardly notice the moments passing.
Every day things change on a continual basis:
- Every second or so you take a new breath.
- When you drive down the road that leads to and from your home, you have a unique experience every time. (The cars, traffic, weather conditions—even you—are not the same as the last time you drove that route.)
- Each time you kiss your children, spouse, or friends, they are different—and so is the experience.
- Every day, your body is different. (It feels different, and it has, indeed, changed overnight—in good and bad ways.)
New is Not Scary
You can see that change does not have to be scary—if you put it in the proper perspective. You merely have to put it in an extremely realistic perspective—the one you live with every moment of every day.
You don’t even notice change, and you move boldly through life despite constant change.
The next time you feel afraid of change or something new, remember that you courageously face change and novelty every minute and every second of every day. That knowledge will help you remember that you are courageous and entirely equipped to handle change.
Your new mindset will keep you moving forward even when doing so requires doing something different.
Enjoy the Experience of Novelty
And when you step into the new, when you embrace—or even seek—novelty, you experience the liberation from your fear-built jail. You will be free…to experience something new.
Studies prove that humans have a drive for novelty—for the new. When we allow ourselves to do things differently or to seek out different experiences, we enhance our feeling of aliveness. That means when you experience novelty, you feel happier, more enthusiastic, higher levels of energy, and increased creativity.
You allow yourself to be fully alive and to experience all the amazing things life has to offer.
So, do something new or different. Change something…anything. And feel the transformation that occurs within you. Then tell me about that experience in a comment below.
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Do you struggle to become the person you know you can be…the person you want to be and feel certain you were meant to be? It’s time to get out of your own way and get from where you are to where you want to go. Give me an hour of your time, and I’ll help you see how to step into your best self. Apply for a free Certified High Performance Coaching strategy session, and make 2018 your best year ever. To apply for a one-hour FREE Certified High Performance Coaching strategy session, fill out the application at the bottom of this web page .Photo courtesy of sifotography / 123RF Stock Photo
