Embracing Change: Strategies for Growth in the Midst of Uncertainty

Posted on April 12, 2024 by Brandon Whittaker, One of Thousands of Executive Coaches on Noomii.

My clients often ask how to adapt quickly to rapid changes at work, such as management turnover, shifts in corporate strategy and dreaded “restructuring exercises.” We’re all being asked to do more at a faster pace while making fewer mistakes. It’s a lot, and it leaves many of us questioning how to deal with it all. Here are a few things you can try that I find helpful:

1. Acknowledge that it’s normal for change to feel uncomfortable. Embracing that fact, rather than rebelling against it, can, counterintuitively, make accepting change easier.

2. Articulate a “good” reason to welcome the change in question. There are many reasons we feel we “have to” accept change, and they tend to be negative. Focus instead on why you “want to” embrace change. Running towards something is better than running away from something.

3. Use your mind’s worries to your advantage. Our minds tend to freak out when we’re confronted with novelty and uncertainty. Don’t push those thoughts away. Instead, list out all of the concerns your mind gives you and address them one by one.

4. Develop practices that increase your acceptance of and capacity for change. Building your capacity for accepting change is just like developing other skills. It takes time, and if you don’t use it, you lose it. Create situations where there is change and uncertainty on your terms so your mind and body can get used to excelling in that context.

Acknowledge that it’s normal for change to feel uncomfortable

Though some hide it well, most people don’t love change—especially when it creates uncertainty. Stasis often means monotony and can limit growth opportunities, but it also provides comfort. Our minds like the predictability of routine. Little energy is needed to process familiar scenarios, and that familiarity creates a feeling of safety. In pre-antiquity, a lack of energy and/or familiarity with one’s surroundings could have literally meant death. Though the world has changed, our minds have not completely adapted. As such, sudden, major changes at work can feel similar to encountering a new beast in the wild. Being apprehensive regarding change is in our DNA, and taking time to adjust is normal.

However, that doesn’t mean that there’s nothing we can do to handle change better. Our response to change depends in large part on our past experiences and our thoughts about the change in question. When we’re met with change, our thoughts tend to resist it. Think about how you feel when you hear the following:

“I was almost finished with this project, and they changed what they wanted…again.”
“They tried something like this before, and it was a failure.”
“The last reorg was awful for me since I had to do several people’s roles on top of my own.”

These thoughts either fight against reality or predict the future based on the past. They all indicate dissatisfaction with what the future will be like. Thoughts like these are normal, and for most of us, they come up almost automatically and maybe even unnoticed in the background of our minds. They are not bad per se, but if taken at face value, they can lead us to feel awful and take actions that are not helpful. Noticing these thoughts in real time and viewing them objectively is important. We can then decide whether embracing the thoughts will propel us toward our goals or hinder us. Even if we feel justified in our thoughts, maintaining them may hold us back from what we want to achieve. If we want to view change more positively, we need to change how we think about change. But first, we need to know what our current thoughts are and accept them without wishing we thought something else.

Articulate a “good” reason to welcome the change in question

If you want change to come easily, it’s important to understand why. It might seem obvious: there’s always tons of change at work, and you need your job to pay the bills. But there is generally more to it than that.

- How does your role at your job fit into your larger life plans?
- What skills do you have that make you well-placed to benefit from changes at work?
- What can you look forward to personally and professionally if you meet your potential in the midst of those changes?

When thinking about a good reason to accept change, try to shift your mindset from “I have to…” to “I want to…” “Having” to do something can create a sense of obligation and pressure that may propel you to accomplish your goals, but that thought is also tiring. Wanting to do something comes from a place of excitement and will generally be easier to maintain over time. It can also be healthier mentally. Approaching change positively makes it easier to thrive in its midst. And when times get hard, having a positive vision for the future can provide the fuel to keep going.

Use your mind’s worries to your advantage

You may never feel 100% comfortable with change. But that can actually benefit you because the very things that make your mind uneasy are where you need to focus. Your mind is very good at going to worst-case scenarios. It will tell you every reason why a new venture is risky, why an idea won’t work, and where things could go completely wrong, destroying the life you’ve worked so hard to build. The negative thoughts your brain cooks up may get you down, but they’re exactly where you should start when making a plan of attack. First, determine whether what your brain is giving you is a credible concern. Sometimes our brains catastrophize things. If that’s happening, recognize it. It will take some of the stress away. For the genuine concerns that remain, list them up and start making contingency plans, rather than stewing over doomsday scenarios.

Another benefit of worrying about change is that it can keep you focused and motivated. When we get too comfortable, it is easier to make mistakes and lose our focus. It is, of course, a balance. Too much uninterrupted worry can lead to mental and physical stress, but when kept in check, it can be an important source of caution for us. An easy way to think about a good level of worry is to visualize It as an occupant in a car. The worry should be a backseat passenger. There, it is along with you on the journey, and it will chime in from time to time. You are the driver, and you decide when to listen to that voice. Don’t let worry sit beside you or take the driver’s seat where it can grab the wheel and get you off course.

Just remember that your thoughts are a product of being human and your personal experiences up to this point. Your mind is trying to protect you. So be kind to yourself. That mind has gotten you to where you are now, and while it may sometimes over-fire and alert you to too many dangers, that’s kind of what it was designed to do. You can thank your mind for the reminder and then tell it that you’re okay not to heed it in a particular circumstance.

Develop practices that increase your acceptance of and capacity for change

This is where the real work is. Think of yourself as a person who is a pro at navigating and thriving in times of change:

- How do they spend their days?
- What clothes do they wear?
- What do they eat?
- How do they treat people?
- How do they approach their work?
- What do they do to calm down when they get stressed?
- What don’t they spend their time thinking about and doing?
- Who and/or what have they jettisoned along the way?

That pro is your future self and is your blueprint for success. Once you’ve figured out how your future self would think and act, start changing your thoughts and actions to move toward embodying that future self. They can be minor shifts at first, and they probably need to be. Changing your thoughts dramatically all at once usually doesn’t work because your mind won’t believe the new thoughts. It’s kind of like going on an extreme diet: you might be able to power through for a while, but it’s not sustainable in the long term. You’re working to change your thoughts for good, so start slow and at a level that is manageable so you don’t give up. Find thoughts that are believable and that can compel you to take positive action. Figuring out what thoughts inspire you can also take time, and it’s an iterative process. If you get stuck, tools like journaling, meditation and talking things out with someone who’s good at listening can help.

Setbacks are an inevitable part of the journey. You’re not going to be perfect and always think and act in ways that are aligned with the person you want to become. You should anticipate this and plan for how you’ll handle setbacks ahead of time. When you’re thinking from a calm place (i.e., before you fail), plan for how you’ll get back on track. Part of that planning also includes learning to celebrate your wins and to be kind to yourself and curious when you don’t do what you say you’re going to do. You might need to lean on others’ help from time to time, too.

Change can be both uncomfortable and transformative. Learning to adapt to and thrive in its midst is a process that takes vigilance, diligence, and time. Your brain, left unchallenged, has great potential to hinder your progress, but that same brain is also your greatest protector. You have to take control of it and help it function in ways that will best serve you. Learning to do that is a process, so don’t expect it to happen quickly. It’s essential to develop at a sustainable pace for you, not the pace of others or even the pace that you expect you should be able to achieve. Have compassion for yourself and remember to give yourself credit for all the things you do right, rather than beating yourself up when you miss the mark.

If you want to know more or could use some help adapting to change at work or in your personal life, then let’s talk.