Keith Everett
resist change

Why People Resist Change, Even When It’s Beneficial To Them

One of the biggest fears we face in life is being wrong.

Being right means we are “okay”, we are satisfied, and we equate it with survival. Being “wrong” means we are not “okay”. We spend our lives calculating how right we are against how wrong we are and if we are more right than wrong, we feel safer and more apt to survive. This is ingrained in us, it’s part of our DNA.

Part of the brain—the amygdala—interprets change as a threat, and releases the hormones for fear, fight, or flight. Your body is actually protecting you from change. That is why so many people in an organization, when presented with a new initiative or idea—even a good one, with tons of benefits—will resist it

Can we change how we think so that we feel more comfortable at taking risks? Absolutely, yes. Change is associated with taking risks (of course), however, what many of us don’t always realize is, staying the same can often be riskier than changing. .

Change Is Inevitable, But So Is Death

Most people spend their lives trying to live safely towards death. Let’s face it, we are all going to die at some stage. Why would anyone want a life of playing safe, when we have been given this amazing gift?. Life is a privilege, it’s not something where you should keep your head down every day and conform. It’s a wonderful journey where you get to express your individuality. The world is changing all the time, the more we can involve ourselves in new ideas, pleasures, projects, thought patterns, hobbies etc, etc the more interesting it becomes.

None of us are living with the same daily risks we had long, long ago, where if you didn’t look out, a wild animal might claim you. It’s true, we do live in a violent world, but it’s not as violent as you think, TV News highlights the worst things happening for your daily consumption and often we get a very wrong perception of the world about us because we spend a lot of time (in general) watching TV. However, very few people (on TV) talk about the positives.

The truth is, the world is full of lies, specially designed to keep you conforming.

TV Is Designed To Program You

Flick through your TV channels and you will get a daily dose of detective shows with plenty of killing, movies that show plenty of violence and killing, TV news that shows even more killing. It’s a killing spree, all there for your daily consumption and programming. Is it any wonder that many people are afraid to venture out into the real world and claim what is rightly theirs?

Most people settle for what is given to them and that isn’t much. It usually takes the form of working for a boss 5 days a week and claiming 2 days at the weekend for yourself. Once you experience a life of this, many people are just too tired to think, let alone do much else. The grooves we etch into our brains are called neural pathways and they are pretty similar to the grooves on a vinyl record, once we have created these thought patterns, it’s much harder to change, especially if you’ve been doing the same old thing year after year.

The truth is, it’s never too late to change. We can re-program ourselves by doing the following:

Reprogramming Yourself For Change

Step 1. Start to remove things from your life that aren’t serving you. Sometimes it takes a good old-fashioned “spring clean” to remove negativity from your life. It’s often better to have fewer friends than lots of negative friends. If the people around you are constantly moaning all the time, it may be time to remove yourself from their company. A true friend is one that “adds” to your living experience, not one who “takes away” from it.

Step 2. Stop associating change with pain. People have more freedom today than at any other time in history. They also have more tools to change their lives than at any other time. People dig themselves into a hole by living on borrowed money, spending countless hours paying for the concrete boxes they live in, and always living for “some time in the future” when they can “maybe” retire. Then they blame it all on someone or something else..

Get real. It’s up to you to change and do something about it.

People Change, Do you?

Change is ongoing. It starts with upgrading your thinking. Instead of living with the “it’s not possible” start to re-think things as “yes, of course, it’s possible” “how can I find a way to do it?” You are now reframing roadblocks into opportunities.

Once you start to make more positive decisions, it gets easier to make even bigger ones, hence – changing becomes easier.

Step 3. Think better of yourself. If you have a negative attitude about yourself and are constantly complaining, you send the wrong message to the universe. Think who is listening (beside yourself). People are treating you in direct relation to how you come across. Are you projecting yourself as a person who is a “live wire” or a person who is a “damp squib”?

Step 4. Let go of the need to be right. You don’t need to be right all the time, just some of the time. In fact, if you are a TRUE mover and shaker, you will probably be wrong, MOST of the time, but HEY…. when you get it right… WOW!

Don’t be afraid of failure. It’s part of the process and very much a part of life. People seeking perfection are often desperately unhappy. Don’t be afraid to try just because you think you might fail. More successes bring more confidence and with more confidence, comes more and much better decisions and of course, more success.

I hope you got value from this post. If you did, please leave a comment below and share the post.

Thanks

Keith

P.S People who liked this post, also liked this one. “Personal Power – How To Get Someone To Treat You With Respect

4 comments

  • Where I worked for 32 years change was sooo necessary to survive or there would’ve been layoffs galore. I loved change. I changed depts just to see what was there

    But there were many people who did not like change and grumbled terribly.

    In our line of work didn’t they know Change was good?

    And I did leave my negative friends behind. I made new friends. I worked hard on seeing the good in my life. I ain’t got time for the naysayers.

    I take risks. Don’t try to stop me it won’t work. I’m going for it. I make friends every where I go.

    I’m awesome that way!

  • I have always been one for change … moving every few years, seeing new places and doing new things, meeting new people … and let me tell you, marriage has been the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life.

    I let myself be pressured into it and while it has its good moments, I have felt (and still do) like a bird trapped in a cage, only allowed to be free for moments here and there. We have almost nothing in common … It has definitely held me back from achieving many of my dreams and goals, but until I can make it on my own, I don’t know what else I can do but to grit my teeth, and keep pushing forward, doing the best I can with what I have.

    It’s people like you who keep me motivated and give me hope and confidence. I don’t know what I’d do without you guys, my online support and lifesavers who help me keep my head above the deep dark waters. Thank you so much from every part of my heart, for your encouragement, inspiration, and support. Don’t know what I’d do without people like you.

    I have become stronger over the years, I may have my down moments, but I’m a tough nut to crack and will forever be pushing onward and forward!