As a result of the pandemic, many people have had the time and opportunity to take a step back and reconsider their lives and work. They’re making huge changes. In many cases, people are taking on new roles, switching to self-employment or totally changing careers.
This is becoming known as ‘The Great Resignation’.
I’ve made some changes in my own work over the last 12 months that are, unexpectedly, leading to big shifts in other parts of my life too.
I’ve been doing lots of new things which although exciting, definitely haven’t been comfortable. Here’s what I’ve learned so far:
Even thinking about change can be uncomfortable. The idea of even considering making changes to anything can make you squirm. It takes courage to decide to make a shift and even more of it to keep going. Procrastination – or the idea that if I don’t think it about, it’ll go away – comes up time and time again at this stage.
Change makes us feel very uncomfortable. Our brains like the familiar and they’re not that keen on moving away from that. Even if you’re feeling frustrated with where you are or what you’re doing, I’ve found that human beings can tolerate an awful lot of discomfort before they do something about it. Comfort zones are called that for a reason.
Facts can help. When I work with clients in organisation change, we spend time gathering facts that will help to answer questions that people may have – they help us make sense of what’s happening. I’ve used this approach in my own change, looking at facts, numbers and examples of what others have done. It’s helped me to create some context.
As uncomfortable as it feels, sitting with discomfort is essential. If you’re going to move forward, you’ll need to get comfortable with discomfort. If you don’t like it, you’ll stay where you are, which is OK. But it’s not if you want to be somewhere else.
Change can take time and energy and you’ll need to keep going – it takes energy to make long-lasting shifts. If you’re making or are involved in any change, you’ll need to take care of yourself with enough sleep, exercise and good nutrition.
Other people can help. They can be an inspiration, a source of support and information at any point. This is why ‘Connect’ is one of the Five Ways to Wellbeing
But your decisions can make other people uncomfortable too. When we create change for ourselves, we’re often disrupting someone else’s world or plans. We’re creating an inconvenience. We may be aware of that disruption – or not. It’s good to take other people’s feelings into account, but make sure you don’t sacrifice or compromise your own plans in the process.
I’ve spent many years supporting the communication of big projects for large organisations. The pandemic gave me the space to panic and then ponder what to do when that work stopped for a few weeks.
I’ve been honing my skills in coaching, wellbeing and workshop delivery along with getting more understanding around climate change, over the last five years. I’m still using my communication skills on head-scratching projects like culture change as I love that sort of challenge. I’m in the final stages of working out how all these things can really help organisations.
It’s been a fascinating and pretty uncomfortable ride so far, but I know there’s more to come - watch this space.
If you’re working through the discomfort of change and a sounding board could be helpful or any of these topics are interesting for you right now, give me a shout.