Change ⚙️

Change

The Meaning of Life

What makes you happy in life? How do you measure success?
Job, relationship, money, big house, freedom, health, recognition, spiritual peace, or activities.
When you get it, and become attached, the loss can be traumatic.

Individuals, and businesses, are constantly changing

Loyal employees, and possibly friends, are a thing of the past.
Today, people need to be flexible and non-possessive about how things are done.
Constant change can be extremely stressful.
Resistance to change is primarily due to fear.
Change triggers many false beliefs and ignites the full range of the emotional spectrum.
Failure to adjust, out of fear, can be worse than the fear experience itself.
People need a way of looking at, and experiencing, change in a helpful way.
“Lay a firm foundation with the bricks that others throw at you.”

"Grasping at things can only yield one of two results:
Either the thing you are grasping at disappears, or you yourself disappear.
It is only a matter of which occurs first."
-Goenka

Attachment

We experience a false sense of comfort

A feeling that this could, and we would like it to, last forever.
Emotions of success and happiness are realized.
A secondary social network, and social life, begin to germinate.
We feel that the company, friendship, or experience, are our possession and connection constitutes ownership.
Pictures, sayings, clothing, and actions reinforce the pride we exhibit.
Additional feelings of pride, self-importance, superiority, condescension, egotism, snobbery, vanity, narcissism and overall ego trip may surface.
Confidence, and a sense of entitlement surface as we begin to feel we deserve more.
"Fullness of knowledge always and necessarily means some understanding of the depths of our ignorance, and that is always conducive to both humility and reverence."
Comfort and safety leads to blindness, arrogance of success, and manifests itself in arrogant rhetoric.

When Change Occurs - be ready

Anticipate. Stay alert.
Avoid the surprise.
Trust is a commodity more rare than gold.
"Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none."
Pay attention to the small changes in anticipation of the greater event.
Always be prepared for the inevitable.
Trust your instincts and intuition. Do not be naive, you are probably right. Always be a skeptic.
"If your mother says she loves you, seek a second opinion."
"If you understood what I was saying, you weren't listening." Very few people speak without an agenda.
Do not over analyze the situation. Map it out and approach it based on your design and mental formula.
“You must do the thing you think you cannot do.”
Resolve yourself to change with the change.
"Any change, even change for the better, is always accompanied by drawbacks and discomforts."
Deal with it head on, do not enter denial.
“You must do the thing you think you cannot do.”
Remain productive in all your activities and endeavors.

The More Important the Attachment is to You, the More Difficulty You Will Experience in Letting Go

Expect to experience anger and some, if not all, of the following negative emotions:
Personal dissatisfaction.
Empty feeling of despair.
Hopelessness & listlessness.
Panic.
Disappointment.
Loss of control.
Low mood.
Depression.
Confusion.
Resistance.
Severe anxiety.
Denial.
Acting irrationally.
Fear.
“There are wounds that never show on the body that are deeper and more hurtful than anything that bleeds.”
Strong sense of having been deceived. That someone pulled one over on you. Tricked.
Concern that you may have missed the warning signs.
Shock at the realization that this is different than the way things were suppose to be.
Discouraged at the events surrounding the change.
"Anxiety is a thin stream of fear trickling through the mind. If encouraged, it cuts a channel into which all other thoughts are drained."
The shock may cause paralysis and a sense of immobilization. Frozen and unable to move forward.
One reaction would be to block everything out. Denial. Self medication.
Tendency to over analyze the situation with, "why didn't I see it coming," or "why me." "What does it really mean."
Stop the analysis and move on.

If You Don't Change, Things Will Change Without You

Expect frustration and anger - internal and external. Personal and social.
Worries and denial may be the cycle for a period of time.
Maintain hope and confront the fear of failing.
Anticipate some hard times along with uncertainty that may last for a long period of time.
Create and paint the picture of yourself finding and enjoying a new 'attachment.' See it, taste it.
Not unusual to experience nightmares and difficulty sleeping. Less energy with intense irritability.
Avoid worrying and prolonged feelings of frustration.
Stay healthy. Increase nutritional goals. Hydrate. Exercise. Meditate. Avoid all drugs and alcohol.
Increase mental and physical strength.
Work harder. Start your day earlier. Stay later. More productivity with increased activity.
Do not sit and wait for the situation to improve.
“By changing nothing, nothing changes.”
Laugh in the face of fear. Do not let your fear turn to anger.
Use your imagination to paint the picture of your goal. Use courage and confidence to fight fear.
Things change and they will never be the same. Laugh, let go and move on.
Life moves on and so should you.
Adapt, Change or Die.

What Would You Do If You Conquered Your Fears

Conquering fear will have much to do with avoiding slipping back into that comfort zone.
Fear is a jail cell for which only you hold the key.
Fear has the ability to paralyze. Turn the tables, reflect fear on itself.
Use fear as a catalyst and incentive to motivate you to action.
Feel the fear. It is powerful and full of energy. Harness that energy. Isolate the irrational.
“Fear, uncertainty and discomfort are your compasses toward growth.”
Escape the comfort zone as early as you can. Adapt to change quickly.
Delay will weaken you. Tends to increase the level of pain. Will drag you down.
It will be a challenge and not easy. Expect a battle with disappointment.
“A year from now you will wish you had started today.”
Embrace the reality and source of the discouragement.
Work hard with the discomfort. What direction would you move if the fear did not exist?
Trust in soul and spirit as your guide.
Seek out examples of those who have made changes, similar or, much more difficult than yours.
Humans are at their best when they are moving forward and happiest when fear is contained.
“Even if you stumble, you’re still moving forward.”

"Any change, any loss, does not make us victims. Others can shake you, surprise you, disappoint you, but they can't prevent you from acting, from taking the situation you're presented with and moving on."
-Blaine Lee

Free Your Mind - Modify Your Behavior

Paint that mental picture of where you want to be.
Change your beliefs and you change what you do.
"If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude."
As fear and worry vaporize, the road ahead becomes clear, the journey exciting.
Think about the potential gains and not what is lost.
Change could, and most often does, lead to something better.
You will realize that you should have taken action sooner.
When fear does not run your life, the new direction will fuel you and provide strength.
The fear you conjure up in your mind is never as bad as the actual situation.
You can't escape change. It only wins if you let it surprise, ambush and hold you hostage.
“Never too old, never too bad, never too late, never too sick to start from scratch once again.”
Just go for it, what do you have to lose?

Life is Uncertain and Complicated

Keep, or develop, a sense of humor. The gift that sets us apart from all beings. Learn to laugh at yourself.
"Humor is the instinct for taking pain playfully."
Keep life simple. Keep analysis productive and do not unnecessarily complicate things.
Keep your finances in order. Money tends to compound and complicate matters of change.
Visualize something better. Let go of the illusion of the past. Move with the flow of the change.
Reflection. Learn from your past, use that as your plan for the future.
"Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forward."
Cultivate awareness, simplicity, flexibility, velocity, and agility.
Mindfulness will be your secret weapon, courage will be the holster, the journey your reward.
To deal with change, you must change.
Only you can do it, do not rely on anyone else. Opportunity to rediscover your inner self.
“Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.”
Take inventory, daily. Do whatever is necessary to avoid the surprise of change. Structured awareness.
Be aware of the real choices and opportunities. Dare to venture out of your comfort zone.
“You’re braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.”
Sua Sponte.

(please click to enlarge)

You desire to know the art of living, my friend? It is contained in one phrase: make use of suffering.

Bradford C. Bruner for Sua Sponte Wealth Management