Embrace Your Fear of Change and Overcome It

It has been about two weeks now since my family and I took the big plunge and moved into our new home.

Like I mentioned in an earlier post, this move was all about priorities – the most important ones being close to my children’s schools and my wife’s work.

In addition to relocating our home lives, my working life also took a dramatic turn.  I was offered a great job opportunity by one of my former clients at a location that was within a reasonable commute to my new house.  With little hesitation, I sprung at the opening and have now switched jobs.

I’m sure I don’t need to tell anyone that leaving your house of 11 years and your job of 12 years doesn’t come without some sort of apprehension or uncertainty.  As human beings and creatures of routine, we definitely have a fear of change and are adverse to things that are uncomfortable.

Despite knowing fully good and well that this choice we made as a family to move is a good one, I still had all the natural “what-if’s” and doubts that any normal person would have:

• What if our new house has more problems than the old one?
• What if my new job has longer and more demanding hours than the last one?
• What if I don’t end up making as much money as my last job?
• What if the new neighborhood isn’t as good as the one I’m used to?
• What if I get stuck doing a job I really don’t want to do?
• What if no one respects me or what I do?

Change can sometimes be the boogieman hiding in your closet or under your bed at night when it’s dark.  You think it’s there.  You think it’s going to get you.

But in reality, there isn’t anything there.  Nothing is coming to get you.

Only being two weeks into this new life, about the only thing I can say for change is that sometimes it can be good.

Overcoming Your Fear of Change

There’s an old quote that goes “The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.”

Fear causes us to resist change.  We don’t like what we can’t control.

We don’t like it when we can’t predict the outcome.  You can’t fight it – it’s an evolutionary thing.  If these were caveman times, avoiding hunting areas you were unfamiliar with could have meant the difference between life and death.

But these aren’t caveman times any more.  And our situations aren’t necessarily life and death.  We’re talking about moving from one house to another.  One neighborhood of green grass to another with even greener grass.

We’re talking about moving from one office with responsibilities, a boss, and coworkers to another type of office with similar responsibilities, a boss, and coworkers.   Although all the names and faces are different, the characters and roles are all pretty much the same.

Even though you know the outcome will be good and you’ve calculated every possible scenario of this change where you life will be better, we still tend to resist; because we don’t like change.

My friends: Let me tell you – take the deep dive into the unknown.

Punch your fear of change in the face and push forward with all your enthusiasm.

Part of who you are in this life and the type of adult you mature into has a lot to do with not just the challenges you overcome, but also how you challenge yourself.  I sincerely believe that.

No one else is going to take you and turn you into the sharpest sword around.  Sometimes you’ve got to take yourself to the grindstone and do it yourself.

Every once in a while you’ve got to take “a risk”.  A risk is called a risk because it may or may not pay off in the end.  It’s a gamble.  But it doesn’t necessarily have to be.

To paraphrase a quote from the famous Peter Drucker: Successful entrepreneurs aren’t great risk-takers, they take calculated risks and manage the downside, so as to reduce the harm that will result from failure.

Being an entrepreneur and risk-taker can go well beyond starting a business.  Whether your aim is to make more money, be more successful, have more time, or simply give your family a better life, sometimes the key to it all is to calculate the risk  and then make it happen.

No one else can make that happen for you.  You have to commit yourself to it and just do it.

Once you jump into the pool, it might be cold at first.  But very quickly your body will adjust.  And then, just like everyone loves a good dip in the water, you’ll start to feel relaxed and refreshed.  You’ll be glad you did, and wonder why you didn’t jump in sooner in the first place.

Featured image courtesy of Nana B Agyel | Flickr