Why Is Change (Both Work And Personal) So Hard?
This whole topic is one that I wish more people would discuss more openly more of the time, because if you really get right down to it, the ability to change is pretty much everything in your life. Think about it just from a work/business perspective for a second: “change” is essentially a synonym with “growth,” and that’s what all organizations are ultimately chasing. The antonym of “change” is “stagnation,” and then tends to get people fired or companies shut down.
It’s kind of ironic, then, that change can be so hard for organizations — but it’s not at all surprising, because change in organizations needs to come from changes in people, and that’s challenging.
Psychology Today wrote an article about why change is so hard back in 2009 and it’s still near the top of Google results for the topic. They break it down into four essential areas:
- You carry both good and bad elements of your childhood into your adulthood. The “bad” elements are commonly called “baggage” or something similar. This can make it confusing to be an adult, because oftentimes you’re still operating according to principles of your childhood.
- Habits. Habits are everything — they’re pretty much far and away the majority of your thoughts and…
