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Coping with Change: How to Change when Change is Unexpected

Coping with Change: How to Change when Change is Unexpected

Mental health advice around change often centres on how to start or how to stop doing something: New Year’s Resolutions, Change Management, addiction cessation or the addition of new, positive habits.

We are frequently encouraged to step out of our comfort zones and embrace a growth mindset.

Proactively seeking change can help us to grow, learn, and develop.

Learning about how neuroscience impacts behavioural change is not only fascinating but gives us tools to make habit creation and habit cessation less painful and more efficient and rewarding. We covered some main points on this topic in part 1 and part 2 of our Change blog series.

But proactive change is not the full picture. At times, change is simply thrust upon us, and it isn’t always good.

IS THIS IT FOR GRIT and RESILIENCE?

IS THIS IT FOR GRIT and RESILIENCE?

I love survival stories. Whilst often harrowing, they demonstrate the incredible power of the human mind and spirit in the most inhospitable conditions.

Laura Dekker, New-Zealand born Dutch sailor, pursuing her dream to be the youngest person to sail single-handedly around the world in the face of repeated opposition from Dutch authorities - grit.

Getting up and continuing to sail after being whacked on the head by a flying fish - resilience.

Yet, resilience and grit are perhaps now more readily associated with corporate wellness schemes, positive psychology, and psychometric testing in recruitment.

And yet, I began to wonder, is developing the ability to withstand trauma really what we want at work?

Wouldn’t it be preferable to create an environment where the capacity to avoid PTSD wasn’t a necessary quality?

ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS... IS RESILIENCE

ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS... IS RESILIENCE

Christmas-time brings with it added pressures and stressors that are unique to celebratory events and can pile on top of an already difficult year. Even the hardiest person can feel their resilience wane in the last weeks of December.

Here are some extra, Christmas-themed resilience tricks that may help you to get through to January. Whether you intend to go full ‘Buddy the Elf’ 100% festive, or pare-back your celebrations this year, these tips may help.