As you go through life, you will change who you are. The person you are/were at age 16 will not be the same person you are at age 40 or at age 60. Or you may reinvent yourself, or change careers to become a “new you”!
As you change and grow over time, what you believe may change too. And, paradoxically, many times your beliefs must change in order for you to change and grow!
When you change, it can be good and bad. There can be a dark side to changing who you are as a person. Or you could just get old and cranky! Hopefully the changes you go through as you evolve and grow will be for the better, but one thing is definite – the person you are today will not get you where you want to go. Usually you have a lot to learn in the process of climbing the figurative mountain in order to reach a goal.
Success takes work.
So why can it be so hard to let go of a past self? What keeps people from moving forward into a new life?
Change can be hard. Most people know that. So why can it be so hard to let go of the old?
For many people, it’s because they are letting go of an identity, and the relative safety of knowing who they are (or who they once were). It can be hard to move from a safe place where you have operated for many years – especially if you were successful – into a new situation. There is a little bit of fear and discomfort associated with change.
But the fact is that you must let go of the old to make room for the new to come into your life. Yes, every bit of it! Yes, even it’s scary. Don’t stagnate! You need to move forward. That’s how we grow!
How about you?
Do you have a personal growth story to share?
Absolutely Karen! Great Insights. Over the last 2 years I have had to make a drastic shift in my personal development on the path to living my purpose, hasn’t been easy but well worth it.
Thanks again.
Diana,
Thank you for reading my blog! Everyone has to change at some point in their life, and change is never easy. I am glad to hear that it has been worth it for you and I hope you are doing well!
Karen
I wrote this last week. I can’t believe you wrote about the same thing from a different angle. Thank you, Karen.
http://www.neighborhoodnowpost.com/2012/02/08/who-was-i-after-the-kids-left/
Hmm. Looks like we decided that Valentines’ Day required the same theme. Great post, Karen…
Thank you Roy!
I heard it explained this way years ago.
“When it becomes more difficult to suffer than to change, you will change.”
That quote has stuck with me for almost 20 years now. We all have our comfort zone. Sometimes things come along to push us out of it, and then sometimes we need to find ways to push ourselves. Regardless of how, if we do nothing but sit in our comfort zone, nothing in our lives will ever get better. This goes for all aspects of life, from employment or business to relationships. You have to shake it up and try soemthing new once in a while.
Hi Bill – that’s a great quote! Very similar to “Eventually the risk to stay tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.”
Thanks for reading my blog – I was pleasantly surprised to see you as a commentator! You are so right – as a coach, I know how difficult it can be to get people out of their comfort zone!!
Hi Karen,
Being able to change is a necessity if we want to grow and improve ourselves. We may have to give something up such as watching television or getting less sleep to improve our lives but the payoffs will be worth it.
We weren’t meant to stay the same, we have a terrible cultural myth that after the age of 18 we stop growing. Nothing could be further from the truth, either physically or otherwise! 🙂
Stacy
I learned years ago when I started college a thousand miles away from my home that when my circumstances change, it is much better to look forward than to look back. I always find a great deal of peace in knowing that when one chapter of my life is closed, an exciting new chapter is beginning. I’ve never had any difficulty leaving the old behind and embracing the new. However, I must confess that I’ve been frustrated at times when employers have changed work processes or management policies when the existing ones worked fine. “If it’s not broke, don’t fix it,” I’d say. Now that I work for myself, though, I can continue doing things that work and find ways to fix things that don’t work. So I’m enjoying the challenge.
Great insights Sherry! Thank you for sharing – I appreciate your perspective.
karen
All good observations. And change is harder for some people than for others due to temperamental differences.
Thank you Margaret! That is a good point!
Karen,
I don’t feel we really believe how a person thinks effect who you are today. A person will spend a lot of effort to change themself outwardly, but will repeatedly fall back into the same old patterns because they have not dealt with the inner life(thoughts).
It’s funny that I just wrote about this in a blog post describing how we become successful by what we focus on. This post is entitled, “The secret to Steve jobs’ success.”
Hi Mike!
Thanks for sharing! I agree it is extremely easy to slip back into old patterns, which makes permanent and lasting change very difficult. I ready your blog post and I thought it was great! Please feel free to post the link back here.
Karen
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