Let me tell you about my day. I woke up this morning and used the percolator to make coffee. I went to the office and sat down at my manual typewriter and used a rotary phone to make some calls. When I came back from lunch, my secretary handed me a pile of pink slips with phone messages and two faxes. I love the modern world.
Obviously change is a big part of our world and impacts our daily lives. No matter how happy we are with how things are, life will change. Change can be expected or unexpected, and in either case, attitude is everything and how we react to change is what counts. The Serenity Prayer directs us to ask that we be granted me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can and wisdom to know the difference.
Here are some tips for having a good attitude when it comes to change.
- Accept that change can be good and can be a chance to challenge one’s self to try new things.
- Understand why change is occurring. If your company changes its hours, vacation policy or bonus structure, you cannot view this as a personal affront and it may be a sign of things to come.
- View change as a new beginning. We celebrate new years, weddings, commencements, new jobs for the opportunities they will bring.
- Change is new and takes you away from the same old, same old.
- Be curious. Ask questions about the change, its impact and what is expected by you.
- Short term does not equal long term. While in the short term, change may require new ways of foing things and the need to adapt. Over time, the “new” becomes familiar and less scary.
- Ask yourself, how can I make this change work for me? How will you benefit?
Tomorrow morning, when you’re making Keurig coffee, having breakfast, get to work and check email on your smartphone and laptop and receive a text about a change in meeting time, think about which changes are coming and list the positives of these changes, and you’ll realize that change can be good.
