Last week, I shared an abbreviated version of the keynote on navigating change that I gave at the Council of Community Services annual lunch. Friends, that was one engaged and fun audience!
(Side note: If you’ve never done any public speaking, let me assure you that those audience members who make eye-contact, who smile during those moments of connection, who offer true presence – you matter to the person speaking. Even in a room of 50, 100, 200 people, you stand out to us and you lift us up as we do this very vulnerable and public thing. If you are one of those people, thank you. Thank you so very much!)
Okay, so last week, I shared three signs of resisting change and three actions for how to navigate that resistance and, in that way, navigate change more effectively. Did you happen to notice that though there were three actions, there was really only one underlying suggestion?
Bring curiosity.
Bring curiosity to any discomfort you feel so that you can discern the subtle bits of wisdom within you that are trying to surface and capture your conscious attention.
Bring curiosity to your desire to blame another person or a situation for your feelings and, in that way, discover where you have more power than you’re acknowledging.
Bring curiosity to any rigidity in perspective or opinion you feel; challenging a perspective or an opinion is a great way to a deeper understanding of your own thinking and, at the same time, a deeper understanding of others.
In some ways, we’re more engaged with our curiosity than ever. We wonder about something, pick up our phones, google the answers, and feel the immediate relief of having some sort of answer (however tenuously vetted).
This curiosity about ourselves and our reactions, however, rarely offers instant relief. Instead, it requires slowing down, getting quiet, attending to ourselves.
It requires patience and being with our discomfort and reactivity rather than trying to resolve, fix, or mute them as quickly as possible.
And pulling all of that off requires that we occasionally and consciously opt out of the social norm that says Busier! Faster! More! and instead answer the whisper within us that says slow down… take time… just this…
I’ve taken to doing a brief Instagram Live each Friday around 8am to add a little something to this week’s blog post. I’d love to have you there! If you can’t make it, catch the replay in my IG story through Saturday morning.