It’s human nature to resist change. But…life is change. And one form of change is learning new things, things like information, habits, actions, attitudes, and behaviors. That learning pushes your envelope, your limits sometimes, and even your comfort zone.
Mindset matters. Is your mindset one of excitement, acceptance, denial or resistance? Let me share some examples of each of these so you can get a sense of where you fit into the spectrum. Note: your mindset doesn’t necessarily hold true across the board of the change in your life, it may be reflected in only the occasional speed bump of change.
My dad is excited about learning and change. He buys online learning courses in a wide variety of topics and thrives in his learning. He streams these courses, some courses come on a DVD, and he adapts and learns how to utilize the various forms of presentation. He says he doesn’t always understand what the teacher is saying, like when he studied string theory, but he loves hearing the new information anyway.
Professionals talk about the continuing education they have to pursue to maintain their credentials, certifications, or jobs. They accept that learning as part of the job and deal with the inconveniences of adding another thing in their busy lives.
Then there are those who deny their ability to change and learn. I overheard a conversation recently where one person was talking about how stupid those math quizzes on Facebook are. The group asked for an example of a math problem, and the original speaker said you were supposed to divide a fraction into a whole number. Well, being bad at math that speaker got the answer wrong. So, the group decided to demonstrate how that math worked coming at it from a variety of angles. No matter how the math was shown — remember, seeing is believing — the original speaker just wouldn’t accept that six divided by 1/3 wasn’t 2 because that’s the rule. That was big denial going on there!
And then there are those who just out and out resist change and learning. People with ADD often struggle with this more than others because it pushes their brains in ways their brains don’t, or can’t, work. People resist studying, reducing toxic foods from their diets, exercising, adopting new technology, etc. The catch is that the place where they are is harder than the change they are being introduced to. Being stuck in a job or at a certain salary is ultimately harder than studying to improve your abilities. Being overweight, having cavities filled, suffering with poor memory, and struggling through nights of poor sleep are much harder than reducing the toxic foods you eat. And I know that being stiff, sore, and/or short of breath is harder than the exercise it takes to loosen you and develop your heart and lungs so you aren’t short of breath.
I get it. I really do. I’ve been there and anticipate I’ll be there again because I’m human.
Fears, insecurities, and old tapes stop you, panic you. Those old tapes are saying you aren’t good enough, smart enough, or just won’t cut it. But those tapes, which contribute to those fears and insecurities, are wrong. You are good enough, smart enough, and have cut it — look at where you made it! And there’s more change and learning to do to get to even other places in your life. Social pressures, friends and family pressures, and even self pressure challenge the changes you face and may want to embrace. Deal with it so that you can live your life on your terms.
When you push yourself to grow and change the rewards you experience are increased confidence, pride, and abilities. Sure, it is hard — at first. But, the alternative is also hard — and gets harder with time.
Life is change. Will you make that inevitable change and learning harder through denial and resistance — whining that it’s too hard? Or, will you accept, embrace, and maybe even get excited about it? High performance living is embracing change and leaning one stop at a time. Don’t limit yourself with negative thinking. Expand yourself with high performance living and a positive attitude. Try it — you’ll like it!