Change is the only permanent aspect in life. What was available yesterday is not what is needed to day and what is required tomorrow may not be what we have today. Hence the imperative need is to face the change. But how to face the change is the dilemma that most people face. Can we change the change? No we cannot change the change. If we want to change the situation or the environment where we live, it is not possible. Hence what we can do is to change ourselves to meet the demands of change. The only way we can change ourselves is to create a mind set to understand the implications of the changes taking place and take steps to adapt to a new thinking to face the changes so that the challenges of change can be met with and desired results can be produced. Every change has its own impact, either positive or negative. Therefore it is essential to differentiate between a positive change and a negative change.
When the environment and circumstances in which we live and the situations that we face, are altered, a change is said to have been effected. The impact of change can be felt in our personal, social and professional lives. Therefore when ever change takes place, we must tackle it with appropriate approach to successfully accept the change with change within ourselves to meet the challenges of the change. Change can be external or internal. External changes relates to the demographic change, environmental change or situational change, cultural change, traditional change, political change and such similar changes. The internal changes are connected with the incidents or happenings that affect the very psychic of individuals. In either case, the impact of the change can be either positive or negative. The only way to successfully meet the change is to adapt, assimilate and absorb oneself to the needs of the change. This can be done only through Mind Management by altering one’s thinking to synchronize with the effects of changes taking place.
There are three types of people relating to change. The first type is those people who create or bring change. The changes have been either beneficial or devastating for the humanity. The second type is those people who successfully adjusted themselves to the changes and produced desired results. The third type is the people who have never taken any effort to meet the changes and they in due course of time perished.
How to cope up with the change? Things do not change the way we want. But we can change. The best way to tackle change is to understand our own perception regarding change. This can be done only through internal communication by asking relevant questions to ourselves. The human tendency is to resist any change because human nature is to take the path of least resistance. When a change takes place, it requires every effort to understand and then to take action to face the change. This becomes a painful affair. Since human nature is to seek pleasure, they avoid taking pains to meet the change. It may last only for a short period because if no positive action is taken to meet the demands of the change, it will lead to permanent pain. Ultimately reality has to be faced. Instead of avoiding pain, if efforts are taken to understand the change and take steps to face the change successfully, it will lead to permanent pleasure.
The two important things that we should remember when ever any change is taking place, the first is how we feel about the things that are changed and two, how we behave with regard to the things changed. Since we cannot change things that are changed and that we have to change to meet the change, we have to decide quickly to effect change in ourselves. We have to accept the fact that we are also a part of the change. We must understand that changes are inevitable and that we must believe that we can change to the needs of the changes and the power is within us. Since change is going to affect every aspect of our lives, the following questions will give the required answer to effect the required change in us.
1. What produced the change?
2. How it affects my life?
3. Why it affects my life?
4. When it will affect my life?
5. Where the change has taken place?
6. Who effected the change?
We may analysis the situations and circumstances that have brought the change and the questions will give many answers. We have to rationalize the answers which are closest to our life which will show us the path to adopt to meet the change successfully to achieve the desired result. In this connection, our past experience and the guidance of those of our well wishers can also be of great help. But ultimately we have to take our own decision since we alone can decide what is good for us. It must be remembered that the survival instinct is great in man and that he has the capacity to adapt to various changes and history has taught us how to survive a change. A perusal of human history has shown that mankind not only survived many changes throughout civilizations and but also progressed because of the changes.
Change taking place in any of the areas of life will have an impact in our personal life, professional life and social life. Hence it is very essential that we understand the impact of the change in our life. Any organizational change can affect our personal and social life and any change in the social set up can off set our personal and professional life and any happenings in our personal life may affect our professional and social life. It may be noted that it is not the events that affect us but our attitude and behavior towards the event that affect our life. The negative impacts are due purely to our mental attitudes towards our lives and circumstances. We forget the fact that, “Success or failure is caused more by mental attitudes than my mental capabilities.” And “No condition or set of circumstances is in itself a calamity to be feared. It is our reaction to it that makes it a ‘waterloo’ or a field of triumph.”
In the ultimate analysis if we can approach change with a positive mental attitude and take a proactive action to meet the change with change within ourselves, then only we can achieve the desired result leading to the path of success and peace and prosperity.
T.R.Radhakrishnan,
Banking & Management,
Facilitator: DRT & SARFAESI Act Cases,
HR Trainer: Corporates, Colleges & Schools,
17, Morya Gardens,
Behind Karnataka Vidya Niketan
Kanadia Road,
Indore. 452016
E-mai:trrk1941@gmail.com; trr1941@yahoo.co.in
(The author can be contacted either through e-mail or by mobile)
CAclubindia
