How to Overcome the Fear of Embracing Change

Change…some people shudder at the mere mention of the word while others run with open arms to embrace it.

Sometimes I like change, sometimes I don’t. Often it depends on the situation and how the change will affect my life.

Right now, my family is in the midst of remodeling our home to meet our current needs. While it is exciting to make these changes, it’s also a little unsettling.

These are a few of the fears I have with making these changes:

• What if it all doesn’t turn out like I thought it would?
• What if no one likes their new space?
• What if it’s more work than I thought?

We’ve already painted the room that will be my husband’s study, however it’s not fully put together yet. He is still looking for a desk that will suit his needs. And, some of the furniture that was in the room goes in other rooms not yet finished. So, we have to wait until the other rooms are painted to move out the furniture.

Now we are working on what will be my son’s new bedroom. After a couple of weekends of painting it is finally ready for the furniture to be moved in.

This is where I start getting nervous. My son will be the first to be truly impacted by this remodel as he will be moving from one end of the hall to the other to his new room.

So, later today we will get his bed and other furniture moved and he will officially be in his new room. Yikes!

After weeks of planning and painting we are finally going to see some progress. I know I will get over my fears of change once this one room is set up and in use. It will motivate me to push forward and complete all of the remodeling so we can begin to live with the new setup.

I know that this experience with change pales in comparison to a change you may be facing in your own life. Maybe you know you need to live a healthier lifestyle or need to make some other change in your life, such as ending a relationship or finding a new job.

I’ve heard it said before that until the pain of staying the same becomes greater than the pain of change, we won’t make the change.

In my case, our family could not sell our home after 2 years on the market, so we knew we had to make some changes in our home to be satisfied with it.

Also, when I decided I needed to make my health a priority, I committed to make some changes in my lifestyle. I decided that it was too painful to remain the way I was, so I was ready to embrace the change needed to become healthier.

So, what do you do if you know you need to make a change but are afraid to embrace it and move forward?

Try these ideas:

Weigh the Pros and Cons

As I mentioned above, we usually won’t even consider changing until the pain of staying the way we are is greater than the change we need to make. Sometimes it is evident when we need to make a change. However there are times when we need a little motivation to move forward.

Write down the pros and cons of making the change and make a similar list for staying in your current situation. Compare the lists and see which one offers more pros. If it is the list for making the change, use that to motivate you to embrace it and make the change.

Ask for Accountability

If you know making a change will be beneficial for your life, enlist someone to hold you accountable as you work your way through the process. When you have someone who will walk with you and cheer you on, it’s easier to follow through with the change.

If it’s a change related to your health, consider consulting a nutritionist or personal trainer to help you create a plan. Or, join a group weight loss program.

If you need to get your finances in order, find someone who can help you set up a budget and stick with it.

Give the Change Time

Most long-lasting changes take time to work through and become permanent. So, when you finally decide you are willing to make the change, give it time to work.

This is probably one of the hardest aspects of making a change. Once you commit to it, you want to see results immediately. It’s easy to give up if we don’t see the changes we are expecting.

However, if we persevere and use patience, we will see the results we are looking for.

Just for fun I want to give you a little look into the progress of my son’s new room. I’ll do an updated post once he’s fully moved in and all set up.

This is what the space looked like before:

This is what it looks like now:

We used Sherwin Williams Commodore for the walls and Dyer’s Woad for the ceiling. He will have some red accents so I think it’s going to look fabulous for a teen boy.