A lot of change is borne from adversity or external factors and people are triggered to act. But my reasons for change were different as fundamentally nothing was broken, so what was I trying to fix?
Life has a certain metronomic flow, back and forth, between work and personal time. The rhythm can be hypnotic and therefore difficult to alter. But what happens if we stop? To place our hand on the pendulum and pause. To give ourselves the chance to adjust the weight that sets the rhythm and therefore change the pace?
Consciously and unconsciously over the last few years I had adjusted the weight by moving from targeted focused sales roles to more supportive HR work. The content I consumed also changed. Reading was less about ‘Getting to Yes’ and more about Getting to Why?
I can’t pretend the shift was easy – it was terrifying, it’s still terrifying. But sometimes it is the fear that makes you feel alive, that breaks the metronomic tick and engages you in life. Fear is not a negative emotion although we go to great lengths to avoid it. We play ‘what if’ and scenario plan every eventuality until it becomes almost impossible to progress. Fear was meant to make us act or react but instead we can become paralysed by the emotion. Scared of the consequences and comments. Terrified of failure.
To paraphrase Peter McWilliams “It is a risk to change. What if it doesn’t work out? Ah, but what if it does”.
