I left my day job last week. Leaving the company and colleagues I’ve come to love over 17 years is hard. Really hard.
In fact, it’s one of the most difficult and scary things I’ve ever done. But life is like that. It brings things we don’t expect and changes we don’t always like. And change can be hard, whether we’re the agent of change or whether change happens to us.
When it comes to our vocation and our businesses, change can bring extreme emotions. Life circumstances often bring us difficult choices - some that we’d prefer to not make. As employers, we have to make hard calls, ones that affect other people.
Not easy, right?
How can we embrace change and lean into the next season when it often feels daunting and you can’t see very far into the future? I don’t have all the answers, but here’s how I’m heading into mine. I hope what I’m learning may be of some use to you in your business as well, because change is certain to come to your business, too.
Acknowledge that change is hard
And it’s especially difficult when it’s not change you would have chosen for yourself.
Humans tend to be creatures of habit and comfort. I’m no exception, and you probably aren’t either. Even if you’re someone who likes frequent change, you probably prefer to experience it on your own terms.
When difficult change comes, take a moment. Acknowledge that what you’re going through isn’t easy.
Grieve the change, but don’t stay there too long
It’s appropriate to take some time to sit with the loss that change can bring.
It would be weird and unhealthy not to grieve.
But we ought not dwell too long in the grieving, either. After an appropriate amount of grieving, we’ve got to move forward.
The best way I know to move forward is by starting with gratitude.
Move forward with gratitude
What do you have to be thankful for from the season you’re leaving behind? There are probably a host of wonderful and beautiful things you’ll miss from the last season. Rather than only grieving their loss, focus on being thankful for the opportunity you had to enjoy them.
Like it or not, you’re also heading into the new and the unknown. Be thankful for the new adventure.
I love asking the question, “What could this make possible?”
The best is yet to come
Life is rarely as dreary as it feels in the difficult moments. It’s entirely possible that the very best is just over the horizon, if you’ll look for it.
Might it be possible that the change you’ve just gone through is a blessing in disguise? Maybe you’ve just been given the gift of a change that you wouldn’t have had the courage to choose for yourself. I certainly have.
Life is too short to spend much time wishing for the past that you can’t get back. Instead, look to the future and find the glimmers of hope that tomorrow could be better than yesterday.
How this could make you money
Change can be hard. No doubt about it.
But what we do with it is what’s most important. People who embrace a posture of accepting change are much better positioned to grow and benefit than those who stay stuck moping and wishing for yesterday. And that makes those who lean into change more likely and ready to succeed.
Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be broken. ~
What changes are you going through? How are you moving forward?
What’s next for me
I’m jumping right into serving small business owners with the extra time I have on my hands.
If you are struggling to get your business performing at the level you want it to, set up a free call. If you know another business owner who needs some help leading their team, refining their marketing, increasing sales, or managing their finances, send them my way.
To thriving,
Zach
