OVERVIEW

The one constant thing in our lives is Change.

Bruce Lee [Actor and Martial Arts expert] is famous for speaking about the flexibility of water, and how everyone should strive to be like it. After all, water does not have any set shape, and it conforms to whatever container it is placed in.

This statement applies to one essential life skill: the ability to adapt to Change. Being able to adapt to the fast pace and uncertain changing times is one of the most essential skills that a person can have. As Darwin said in 1809,

“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to Change.” - Charles Darwin 1809

The term survival of the fittest has become the common interpretation; actually the real meaning which can be found in his works and what he has always referred to, is the ones most responsive to Change. Those who are not able to adapt, are very likely to become extinct sooner than those who are able to adapt. From science, to technology, and politics, history has shown that those who are too tied to the past are bound to be left in the past.

If you are able to adapt to the times and Change when it is time to Change, there is no limit to the power and success that you can achieve. If we are ready to accept and embrace Change then we are quicker to apply our adaptive strategies without as much resistance, and therefore our attentional mechanisms and our power of learning to create the new necessary foundations, will be of higher quality and kick in more quickly than if we are stuck, inflexible and resisting Change.

We have seen through much research and exploration that Embracing Change or even enjoying certain Change is often resisted by humans. We also vary in our ability and aptitude to be flexible and be able to adapt to Change. Humans are creatures of habit; having to Change our patterns and behaviours can be frustrating and difficult. This feeling of having to break existing patterns and build new ones, then creates a resistance. Patterning is a biologically ingrained process, and it is a great help in enabling us to learn and manage situations and it is a core way in which we navigate our world. The learning process takes us from the controlled, conscious stage where we need focus and full attention as we are laying down new neurological connections, to an automatic process, where the new neurological pathways can fire more easily on their own without needing the same amount of direct focus and attention. In order for any learning to become automatic, the brain lays down neurological traces that are then able to fire more quickly and easily than new traces. The firing threshold becomes much lower, as we have trained our brain that the specific behaviour is something that we will be doing a lot more of and therefore the biological patterns have been laid down. This means that we can do other tasks in tandem, for example, once we are skilled at driving, we can also hold a conversation or listen to the radio at the same time. This is all very useful to our ability to learn; however it can also be a hindrance when these patterns need to be broken and no longer serve us in a new context.

There are different types of Change. There is the Change that is thrust upon us and there is the Change that we plan and attempt to control. Whatever the type of Change, there are always going to be variables that we cannot control. However much need we have for the control over our life events, the notion of full control is not honouring the dynamic and unpredictable nature of our lives and the universe. However stable our lives, we will always face the unexpected or the need to deal with new situations that we have never encountered before. Of course the nature of Change also ranges on a long continuum, from being hugely positive in nature through to very negative and trauma-inducing. The nature of the Change will of course be a large determinant to the attitude, skills, knowledge and emotional resources we need to deal with this, so that it can be turned into an event that does not damage us but strengthens us to go forth positively with our lives.

Our fear and self-limiting beliefs tend to kick into action when we are faced with the disruptive consequences of Change. There is no escaping the fact that Change is a disruptor and it can feel uncomfortable and create a whole new set of emotions in us that are hard for us to deal with. It is our power of choice that enables us to activate the attitude and approach necessary to deal with the Changes that we need to face. We cannot control all the events in our life, but we can control and develop strategies to manage how we react to the impact that these events have on our lives.