Well hey everybody, thanks for listening to the Red Door Creative podcast. My name is Jordan Farris and I’m the founder and owner of Red Door Creative which is a digital creative agency. The goal of my business is ultimately to help great people do great things, and this podcast is just one way that I hope to help business people and marketers like yourself do just that. I try to keep the episodes short and sweet because I know you’re busy like I am. Let’s get started.
Why is change so difficult?
You know, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about change. Why is change so difficult for many of us? Whether we’re talking about massive changes or small changes, it can be tough to change things about ourselves for many reasons. Today I’ll discuss a few reasons for resistance to change… these really apply to myself, and I hope you can relate.
First, though, let’s discuss a few of the reasons that change is important. Why change? Well, I believe life is fluid rather than static. Consider our natural world and how it’s anchored by the concept of change. Nothing that contains life is meant to stay the same forever. Just as the trees grow tall over time and our bodies age as life progresses, our inner person should be open to the same level of evolution.
So we’ve established that change is a natural part of life, and I would even venture to say change is the very nature of life. So if change is natural, and we’re natural, why do we resist change? Let’s explore a few thoughts.
Fear Keeps Us Where It Wants Us
If you’ve been listening to the podcast since I started about 8 weeks ago, you already might be tired of hearing me go on and on about fear being at work in our lives. But I have to submit that fear is one of the biggest factors at play in many of our lives every day. It cannot be overstated. So what are we afraid of now? I don’t believe we fear change itself… but I do believe many of us fear components of, and potential side effects of change.
Isn’t it kind of scary going out on your own for the first time? I remember my first day of school when I was 5 years old. My parents walked me into a kindergarten classroom and before I knew it they were leaving and I didn’t understand why. Being on my own in this new environment was too much for my little brain, being that I never went to preschool or daycare before this. It was terrifying being here with all these new people and without the two main people I had known and seen in my short 5 years. In the same way, it can be terrifying to leave the safety of your previous habits, ideology, or opinion. When you were younger, did you ever have your beliefs or opinions questioned and suddenly realize you don’t really know exactly why you think this way? We have all built up structures of truth in our lives that we may need to examine from time to time. But if we remain afraid to challenge these beliefs, we may find ourselves exactly where fear wants us… in the status quo of our own existence.
Complacency Must Be Defeated
I believe that complacency is another big reason for opposition to change in many of our lives. It’s just easier to not think about change, to turn a blind eye to the areas in our lives that ought to be challenged. Make no mistake about it, change is not easy, and anyone who professes that they’re ready to change things in their life should be prepared not only for a lot of work ahead… they should prepare for battle. The ‘you’ of yesterday is not usually prepared to give up easily, so you should realize there will be some discomfort during this process. Change takes effort.
Don’t fool yourself into thinking that change comes quickly either. Challenging what you know creates internal conflict as yesterday’s you resists tomorrow’s invitation to a better life. Internal conflict isn’t fun either, but it's a necessary part of life that should be embraced and welcomed. For instance, a person that wants to attain a certain physique should absolutely be prepared to wage war on their previous dietary life. It’s not enough to passively accept the ‘idea’ of change. One must follow through, and this proves much more difficult that we usually realize in theory alone.
Facing and defeating our own complacency requires courage, but also yields courage. Uprooting previous knowledge in search of a better way forward is not only commendable, it’s a courageous act of evolution that can bring tremendous satisfaction and reward.
Real Change Requires Maturity
This might sound a bit harsh, but I believe that many of us simply haven’t arrived at a place of personal maturity that allows us to change. To walk back previous opinions requires the ability to admit that you were once wrong. Isn’t this uncommon today? No matter your age or station in life, this kind of humility is important to embrace. What’s so important about being right all the time anyway? We’re all just people.
Change also requires the ability to empathize with others. We tell our kids about the importance of putting yourself in someone else’s shoes, but we rarely practice this as adults. You have to realize that your reality is not the reality of everyone else on the planet. Just because you can’t personally relate to something doesn't make it less valid or less important to try and understand. Empathy is crucial, but it requires maturity.
It also takes maturity to educate yourself about your own perspective. How was it formed? What were the building blocks of your long-standing opinions? I’m remembering a time in my life when I had to take a hard look at many of my opinions and just realize I had inherited many of them. Doing something because you’ve always done it that way is never a good reason to continue. You may find yourself feeling very uncomfortable when your mind asks questions that your heart needs to answer. Don’t answer with previous knowledge. Educate yourself with facts and then lean into your heart. Wear humility like an outfit everyday. Be ready to learn. None of us have ‘arrived’.
That’s it for this episode of the Red Door Creative Podcast. If you got anything out of this show, follow my business @madebyreddoor on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Anchor. I’ve got new shows coming out each Friday on your favorite podcasting platform. You can find those links when you follow me on social media. You guys have a great week, and we will see you next time! Thanks for listening.
