“When I grow up, I want to be _______,” is one of the most common things that we hear young children say.
As a child, every one of us had some specific dream or goal that we wanted to achieve when we grew up, right? These dreams, goals, or career objectives can become so deeply entrenched in our psyche that we start focusing on achieving them without even giving it a second thought. Our subconscious mind builds up expectations depending on the path we choose from a very early stage and ensures that we keep working on the set path with dedication. Undoubtedly, all of this is essential for motivating you, but it is the same mindset that brings the hurdles in the change process.
What Makes Change Difficult?
Subconscious memories and associations from the past can trap in you a circle of your own limitations. This can make you feel wary of changing your lifestyle or career – no matter how awful your current routine becomes – as you are stuck with such a mindset.
Emotions can play a significant role in helping you go through the change process. Being aware of the emotions that you are currently dealing with isn’t an easy task, and focusing on your emotional changes can be even more daunting. Such a feeling prevents you from adopting anything new in your life. And even if you adapt to new changes once, it can feel odd to do it all over again. You can have a mental block associated with frequent changes, thereby limiting your potential.
Change Needs Time!
Change never happens instantly. You need a transition period to adjust to any new aspect you include in your life, and people don’t realise thissometimes. They want to skip the difficulties that come during this process and get to the other side of the road in an instant. This isn’t possible and one of the major reasons for making the change process more difficult.
For others, the transition period in itself is scary. They prefer enduring the difficulties of the existing path rather than choosing a new path. You’ll often see such an attitude in case of career changes, divorces, adopting healthy habits, and shifting to a new home. You might have experienced it yourself.
How Can One Tell When It’s Time for Change?
This is a subjective question, but most people’s indicator is pain. You start feeling pains and aches when stuck in a futile path. When you start looking for distractions and searching for motivation to do what you are currently doing, that is when you should look for the other path. Keep in mind, though, that the new path you’ll adopt is not going to be simple. You can be relatively comfortable if you stay on the existing path, even if you face day-to-day difficulties. But if you decide to embark on a new path, you’ll have to pave it by putting in the effort and dealing with the hurdles.
Undergoing these trials is the way to reach your end goal and start a new life. You need to be consistent and believe that you can make it through the new changed path – but that doesn’t mean you have to be hard on yourself. Let time help you adapt. If you do have a setback, embrace it. If needed, you can leave the new path for a few days and live the old life for a while. But once you feel the pain of the old path again, use that as motivation to adopt change. This is the transition phase and, once it is over, you’ll be happily adjusted to your new phase of life.
Why Is Pain Important?
The strange thing is that, with pain, you’ll get to know your actual personality, your likes and dislikes, and the way you want to live your life. Pain also provides a trigger to change. You get a chance to get out of your comfort zone and try new things.
Can You Change Right Away?
No, it isn’t possible at all. Don’t think it is an easy path to adopt. You might have to adjust multiple times to get to the thing you actually want, and you should expect plenty of trial and error during the process. It’ll become easier if you don’t look for external validation as our society is tuned to the traditional method, where sticking to a particular course in life is considered integral. Striving for change, especially continuous change, isn’t appreciated in today’s society.
