Why people are afraid of change?
Most of us want to change and experience new things in their lives, but only few go out there and do it. Despite that doing the same thing again and again is labeled as a “Boring Routine”, most people pretty much just stick to that and do nothing about it. This is the conundrum that I call the fine line between us and our dreams. Countless number of people’s dreams are still in heads, not in action, just because they decided to hold back on making a bold decision of changing.
We all understand that not everything is up for change. However, other than the constants that doesn’t change such as “good” beliefs, ethics, values and principles, the rest should continuously change when required, or be ready to change when it’s time to. With what being said, change is a delicate process that requires a lot of research and preparation. Change is an informed decision that must have a clear strategy and objective, and should not be based on nothing or just a hunch. Despite the massive benefits that comes with change (as discussed in our last article “Why change is important?”) change remains a no easy task to do. Change comes with several hardships that only courageous and determinant people succeed to tolerate, move on and reach to their goals.
So back again to the question of why people are afraid of change? The following are the answers to the question:
- Change requires a lot of learning and trying new things.
No doubt, if you change anything in your life, it requires you to learn and try something new. It is clear to everyone that learning is a process that requires a lot of hard-work, commitment, dedication and sleepless nights. On the other hand, trying something new is filled with risk due to the lack of confidence whether we are going to be good at the new thing or we are going to suck at it.
However, this shouldn’t be so complex as its something we have been doing our entire life, unconsciously for the most part. We grew up studying in schools, universities, institutes and doing jobs. We have experienced plenty of learnings and tried countless of new things as we grew. Yet, doing it unconsciously, unaware of why and how we did it, in addition to the lack of responsibilities we carried on our shoulders made change feel like an easy routine.
As we grow, change becomes mostly a conscious decision that drags with it many consequences. As a result, most tend to not make the change and go with what they have. The solution here should be very simple, all we have to do is to master the science and the art of transforming our unconscious ability of committing to change to a conscious decision that is driven by an organized process (To be discussed in the next article “Executing Change Effectively”.
2. Change does come with a lot of challenge and risk.
Change is rarely simple and smooth. Most of the times change comes with unprecedented challenge and risk. We always tend to picture things going in a certain direction when we anticipate change. But it rarely does.
Let’s take an example of changing a job. First thing first, no two companies are alike, so the same old ways will not be sufficient to fulfill the needs of your new job. You got to work-hard, adapt, be patient, commit and do a whole a lot more to get over the challenges and risks that are about to happen. Most people when they change their job expect things to be easy and within reach. Again, it’s rarely the scenario. The truth is, people will encounter countless number of challenges, from doing the job right, dealing with colleagues, dealing with the leadership team and delivering projects on time.
In addition, there are accompanied risks to changing a job. The risk of not making it in the new job, the risk of not being liked in the office, the risk of not finding room for growth as you pictured it to be, and of course the risk of not knowing whether eventually you are going to fit in the culture, or just back out. In other words, leave or lose your job.
3. Change does not always work out immediately.
Change does not always work out immediately in the short run. It always require extensive efforts with tons of patiences and consistency. The results of change could be disappointing some times not to say frustrating in many. People starts second guessing why did they anticipate change in the first place. Where others jump to conclusion that it’s the end, they won’t carry on, they won’t change again, and they are just going to go back to the old safe and secure thing they were doing. Well, it might be true that change sometime slightly disturb your life and distort your vision, most of us forget that change is imminent to happen and its inevitable. The advantage here is anticipating change beforehand and going out for it your self rather than just waiting around in your comfort zone till it gets to you.
How many people we know who’ve been in the same job for 10 years and all of a sudden change comes to them and force them to leave their job for some reason. Only then, they start the process of figuring out what to do in life, something they could have figured out years ago if they just anticipated change and tried new things. In simple words, change reduces the time for you to know what you are and you are not good at, it directs you where to go and gets you to your dreams and goals faster and stronger.