Thrive Wave Coaching

Change — One of the few constant things in life. Yet, many dread it like Monday mornings.

The one thing in life that is certain is change. Yet, many dread it like Monday mornings. Change is unpredictable, frightening, and anxiety-inducing. But then there are those, that seem to thrive through change, as if it’s no biggie. What is their secret and how can we all handle change like a boss? Let’s talk about it!

Change usually awakens a range of emotions, for many, these are unpleasant ones, such as fear, worry, anxiety, and stress. The thing is, we and our brains love the familiar. Familiar routines, habits, people, environments, foods, you name it! The familiar is what keeps us safe and makes the outcome predictable, so we tend to stick with it.

The uncertainty that change brings, is often perceived as a threat, risk, or as loss of control. Change disrupts the existing norms and routines and pushes us out of our comfort zone. And this is, what makes change so uncomfortable, or even scary.

The Secret to Success

But then there are those, who don’t seem to mind change or even thrive in it. They adapt to change like chameleons change their colors to blend in with their surroundings. How do they deal with change with such ease?

Well, most of the time it’s their mindset. They don’t view change as a bad thing or a threat, but rather as an opportunity and a chance to grow. For them, it’s all about staying curious, flexible, willing to learn, and embracing the differences.

Even when the going gets rough, they bounce back on track (or switch tracks) fairly easily. Their growth mindset, makes them more resilient and agile. This adaptability is how they face challenging situations and thrive through change like it’s just another Tuesday.

Handle Change Like a Boss

So, how do you handle change like a boss? Well, first you must be willing to change. Whenever change is forced upon us, our first instinct is to resist it. Take a moment to think about a situation, where change was forced upon you. It could have been at work, school, or within your family. Now, how did that make you feel?

Usually, change that was forced upon us will leave us feeling angry, anxious, frustrated, fearful, or annoyed. We feel like we have lost control over the situation. The thing is, as human beings, we have a fundamental need for autonomy. In essence, we must be able to choose for ourselves how to behave and what to think.

This is also known as the self-determination theory, which suggests that we have three psychological basic needs; autonomy, competence, and relatedness, which are the foundation of growth and development.

Next, we’ll dive into 4 steps that you can implement to handle change like a boss. These are:

• Focus on Learning
• Address Uncertainty
• Fail Forward
• Worry About What You Can Control

Focus on Learning

One way to help us through change and create a sense of autonomy is to change our mindset from a fixed to a growth mindset.

A fixed mindset is when we believe that things, ourselves, or our behavior will not or cannot change. It could be thoughts such as, I’ll always be like this, or I am so bad at learning new skills, I will never be able to do this.

A growth mindset, on the other hand, focuses on learning and development. This mindset can be recognized by thoughts and beliefs such as, I can always learn new skills or become better at something, or this was just a minor setback, a stepping stone on my journey.

So, when facing change keep an open mind and focus on what you can learn in this situation, instead of resisting the change.

Address Uncertainty

Another aspect of change, that creates negative emotions and fear is uncertainty. To calm our minds, we need to address this by gathering information.

Depending on the change, try to find resources about the upcoming change in manuals, guides, online, or from the people around you. Build a solid foundation of knowledge about what’s happening, the background, and the implications it will have on you.

Use this information to educate yourself and to prepare for what is coming. Use the facts instead of speculation and guesswork to have a realistic picture of the situation. This also increases the sense of competence, which is one of the basic needs covered in the self-determination theory.

You can also address uncertainty by seeking people or peers who currently are or have been in a similar situation. Sharing your experiences and receiving support from others, will make change easier to bear and strengthen the psychological need of relatedness.

Fail Forward

A part of the growth mindset is to learn to fail forward, meaning that failure is not the end, it’s a stepping stone on your journey.

For many failure is seen as a negative and sometimes even shameful event. But overcoming this irrational fear allows you to move forward faster, be more resilient, and develop your skills further.

Change forces us to adapt, try new things, and move out of our comfort zones. Even if we are prepared, we are most likely to stumble or struggle at some point as we are learning to act in a new environment. Mistakes and failure are part of the deal. They should be considered as learning opportunities, instead of something harmful.

Worry About What You Can Control

There’s nothing more frustrating than stressing about the things we cannot control. We want them to be different, fight and resist them, but at the end of the day, there’s absolutely nothing we can do about them. So, why not save yourself from unnecessary trouble and pain?

Change — especially when inflicted by some external party is often not something we can control. We can choose to use up all of our energy to fight and resist it, or we can choose to focus on aspects of our control. Such as our emotional state, thinking, and behavior.

It will make change easier to bear and less stressful. Your emotional state will improve and are more likely to adapt to the new. Moreover, you can redirect your energy to learning, addressing uncertainty, and growth.

Change — Let’s Do This

The one constant in life is change, yet it’s often accompanied by various unpleasant emotions, making it difficult or frightening for many. Yet some people seem to thrive through change like it’s no biggie.

What’s their secret? The short answer — their mindset. They see change as an opportunity and welcome it as a chance to learn and develop their skills.

Based on the self-determination theory, we all have three needs that lay the foundation for us to thrive. These are autonomy, competence, and relatedness.

Change is often inflicted on us and leads to the impression that we can’t fill these needs. Switching to a growth mindset, focusing on learning and addressing uncertainty by gathering information and sharing experiences with others, can help us to fulfill these needs and support our growth through change.

We can handle change like a boss by adding failing forward and worrying only about things in our control. Failure is a learning opportunity and a stepping stone on our journey. Embracing this perspective makes us more resilient and less frightened about change.

By focusing on what we can control, we redirect the energy to support us through change, instead of letting it drain us. It also helps us to regulate our emotional state, which makes change easier to bear and more adaptable.

With these four steps, you’ll handle change like a boss.

P.S. Feel free to share this article with someone who might benefit from these steps. And share your thoughts about change in the comments!

---

• Facebook
• LinkedIn
• Mail
• Threads
• X

---