Your Say

Create yourself a different experience of change!

Have you ever noticed how people respond or react when change occurs? Some may be quite distraught, angry, or depressed while others may be excited, happy or perhaps even appear nonplussed.

But what actually is change? The word itself is defined in The Oxford Dictionary as ‘verb: make or become different’ or ‘noun: the action of changing’, and we know change happens all around us everyday at home, at work, in our community and around the globe. Without it everything would stagnate, stop and eventually disappear. Why then can one little harmless word create such emotion? At Unlike Before we believe it’s not solely the event itself that creates these outcomes, rather our individual responses and reactions that create and attach meaning to it. How then can we as individuals alter our responses and reactions and therefore create a different experience for ourselves?

First you need to find out how you react and respond now. Without this awareness it’s difficult to shift behaviours and create a different experience. In a coaching situation, for example, you would pick a current change event and I would encourage you to write down all the thoughts, emotions and feelings you’re experiencing as a result of this event. The list helps you identify behaviours or patterns and recognise the ones you regularly experience. We then work together to increase your understanding of how you deal with personal change and a good reference for this is John Fisher's model, “The Transition Curve”. Because change is an individual reaction this model is an excellent analysis that graphically and perhaps a little humorously, identifies and allows you to acknowledge the phases you will experience at different stages of the curve.

I wonder how many would match the experiences on your list... As a result of the exercise and the chart you have the opportunity to recognise and understand where you sit on the curve, adjust your response and reaction if you choose to, and ultimately create yourself a different experience. I say choose because while you may not have any choice in whether the change occurs you do have a choice in how you experience it.

This is where the shift occurs. You are now responsible for creating your own experience. It’s up to you and remember, change is just another word in the dictionary.



© Unlike Before, 2007

Deanne Earle is passionate about making a difference. When working with businesses she specialises in complex or crisis organization transitions and projects. With individuals she offers a one-to-one coaching service that encourages clients to 'have it all'. Her website www.unlikebefore.com carries published case studies and testimonials of project and individual successes.

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