A Light-hearted look at Change

Are you on top of change or is it getting on top of you? Communicating the need for change.

‘Adapt or die’ is a rather harsh summary of the need to change, but the truth is that we constantly need to adjust in order to thrive. Success is about more than surviving, and we all want to succeed, don’t we?

I did a crash course on change management early in 2017. It’s a fascinating and important area as it affects every area of business growth and development.

As I reflected light-heartedly on changes I had to make recently, I came up with a simple change model of my own, which I would like to introduce you to. Firstly, can I make it clear that two out of three of the changes were self-imposed? When we’re in control of it, change is far easier.

In May 2018, I changed my lifestyle using The Southey Way. This included an exercise routine that I did 6 days a week. Because it’s so sustainable, I’ve been doing it ever since. On December 1^st, I introduced another major change and a beautiful puppy joined our home and office. We had prepared ourselves for what this would entail, reading books and speaking with people, but there are certain aspects of change you can’t predict.

Deny or Acknowledge?

Do you find that routine is important but makes change harder? I lay out my yoga mat at 6:30/7 every morning and I thought I could keep doing this. My plan was that Mynama could watch or play alongside me. She had different ideas. You can deny the need for change for a certain length of time, but at some point you have to acknowledge it.

Ignore or Assess?

I acknowledged that having 4kg of weight on me was a change and ignored that there was a problem for a while. However, when that weight started tearing my hair out literally led to me doing it metaphorically, I still decided to ignore the need to change. Clearly, it was funny and at times beneficial as I was now lifting 6-8kg of puppy! But after a month of delegating or less productive workouts, I made the choice to assess the situation.

I didn’t want to carry on with the frustration of repeatedly telling Mnyama to get off my yoga mat or me, which she found far more comfortable and fun than the wooden floor. So, I avoided the situation and did my routine later when there was someone else in the office to take care of her. Obviously, this impacted my productivity negatively, but I told myself, ‘it’s December; I can be more flexible.’

Avoid or address?

But as January saw no improvement as a result of my avoidance tactics, I decided to address the situation. This initially positive attitude led to some thinking and planning on my part. But there is a danger that too much time spent on the cerebral can add up to procrastination!

Accept or Adapt?

Despite knowing the problem and realising that something needs to be done, we can still choose to accept the poor situation. This takes several forms. We can decide there’s nothing to be done; it’s out of our control. We can delude ourselves that we are addressing the situation. For me, this took the form of working out in a different room in the house and tip-toeing around, looking for my instructions or resistance band. If forgot to move my yoga mat, I was afraid to disturb the puppy and did without. Even those who know all about change can be painfully slow at adapting!

But adapt I did when I faced the problem squarely. Sometimes the solution is staring us in the face. So now, I either put Mnyama in her crate and she’s adapted to the situation. Or I tie up my hair and do my workout on her mat and adapt to the mild compromise!

Change takes time and it’s a process. It rarely happens at the snap of the fingers. Patience is required, but if we decide it’s worthwhile, life is always better. We still have a beautiful, well-behaved puppy and I have not missed a day of my workout.

Good luck with your change. All that’s left to do now is celebrate and await the next change that’s required!