Lessons for Living
 On Resisting Change

Resisting change is so common that we even resist our own changes. Most likely you have worked hard to bring about a planned change in your life only to immediately begin resisting it as hard as you could.

Consider this. Have you ever planned to lose weight? Maybe you stood on the bathroom scales and decided something must change. So you design an exercise program. You decide that you will set your alarm clock for 5:30 a.m. so you can get up and jog for half an hour before getting ready for work. The next morning when the alarm goes off what do you do? You hit the snooze button and go back to sleep. For several days in a row you do the same thing. You're busy resisting you planned, self-initiated change.

What is your resistance telling you? You might think that it means you shouldn't exercise, but if you looked into the mirror and decided that needed to do so, you're probably right. Your resistance is not telling you not to change, but, rather, that you have a "bad" plan.

Five-thirty a.m.! What in the world were you thinking? You are not a morning person. Resistance is saying, "Change the plan!" So you decide to try 5:30 p.m. and discover everything goes well. Your afternoon plan works wonderfully and soon you are a much slimmer person.

Resistance to change doesn't mean don't change. Resistance most often is trying to tell us that something is wrong with the plan or process.

If you happen to be responsible for leading others into change remember that people resist change for good reasons. Often it is because they see a problem that you don't. Their resistance is trying to help you. Find out what the resistance is about, identify the underlying problem, and fix it. Keep doing this until the resistance goes away, and you will create a successful change.