Dealing with Changes that feel like crisis

Change is looked at with both anxiety & anticipation, with fear and joy – well mostly. Mostly, when the change is planned and going as per your own plan to change. Changes like moving to a better profile, or upgrading to a better car or moving to a better company can be anxiety evoking but joyful. Changes which come unannounced and create a stir or instability in our life or take away certain comforts, certain realities which we enjoyed could be distressing – like a sudden fall in the market and losing investments or losing a job or being reallocated to a project/team/manager that doesn’t align with you. Changes as the latter can be critical and feel like crisis.

Living through a pandemic in the 21^st century is something none of us could have imagined. And this pandemic was both critical and life altering in many ways for many of us. It made me as a psychologist & change professional to also deliberate on the relationship of our mindset, our self talk (language) and outcomes when coping with change which comes into our lives like a crisis.

1. Framing a situation in the most ‘helpful’ manner is important: Framing need not be positive or unreal to how we feel in a moment but questioning whether this is helpful or not can be decisive. Losing a job can be framed as life going against you or as a possibility to alter some aspect of your life can have decisively different outcomes.
2. Mind is what matters: When most things fell out of our control and we lived with unpredictability on a daily basis, the only thing we could really train was our mind. Training our thinking & the ability to be more resilient towards what life throws up at one, helps harness positive potential to create, innovate and succeed.
3. Watch the language: Very often we fail to recognize the importance of the choice of words in making & influencing our reality. Our mental make up and our attitude towards a problem is largely influenced by what we tell ourselves and others about it. Watch how are you describing this phase of your life. Is it the big bad world or the big awesome world? What kind of vibe are you giving out based on your selection of words?
4. Who do you associate with: Being mindful of the company one keeps while going through change is important. There are people who could pull you down by citing examples of those who didn’t make it and highlight the difficulties you may face ahead. There are also those who would pump you up with an over zealous picture of what reality could look like which could make you callous instead of cautious. It is important to associate oneself with a company of people who share, guide, encourage and ideate together to create a plan of action and not just engage in word play.
5. Make your choice: Communicate with yourself on the difference between making a hard choice and a bad choice. Even if some of the changes you are coping with are a result of choices you didn’t make, you have a choice right now – about what to do right now – and that choice can either be a hard one or a bad one. Don’t look for what’s easy but focus on answering questions like where do I need to be? Where should I start from? What do I need to start?

Are you or your teams grappling with micro and macro changes? Let’s connect for a group facilitation session to get to the right answers by asking the right questions! Reach out to us at Human Dynamic for more!