So often, people are resistant or are afraid of change. Especially in recent months, change is scary, and it feels easier to accept the status quo than to embrace a life-altering event in your life.
Whether you have to move to a new city, leave a relationship or job — no matter what, change takes hard work. And if your job security has been at risk during this pandemic, then you are likely in a position of fear right now.
I’m a firm believer that shifting your mindset and approaching life-altering occurrences with an open mind and heart can be the catalyst for powerful and positive changes in your life.
When you make the decision to embrace big change, you are saying “yes” to evolving as a person, and when it comes to your career, evolving as a professional.
Here are five powerful ways that change can improve your life. Use these.
1. Change Can Bring a Boost of Self-Esteem
The experience of complacency in our lives — getting so used to the day-to-day operations of life — makes you miss the signs that it’s time to move on. Unfortunately, this can have a negative impact on your self-esteem as well.
When you get used to being stuck in the same situation, you forget the skills, tools, and talents you have at your disposal. Complacency will often make you forget that you were made for something greater!
The challenges that big change presents to you will remind you of the stuff that you’re made of. You’ll soon realize that you are resilient and capable of overcoming those challenges.
You may even realize where your weaknesses lie so that you can work on exercising them to become even stronger. At the end of the day, change can empower you to believe in yourself in ways you never did before.
2. You Get to Step Outside of Your Comfort Zone
You might think your comfort zone is a snug and cozy place to be, but quite the opposite is true. When you stay within the boundaries of things that make you comfortable, your character remains stagnant.
And especially when it comes to the job market, the last thing recruiters want is a stagnant employee or a candidate who has never experienced anything outside of their comfort zone.
In fact, when you step outside your comfort zone, you discover things about yourself and the world around you that you may not have realized before.
For instance, you may discover a career field that is much more interesting to you than your current work. You might even discover a hobby that can translate into marketability for yourself. Ultimately, though, stepping outside of your comfort zone will present questions you hadn’t asked yourself before, but needed to.
3. You Become More Flexible and Adaptable
Another trait that recruiters LOVE to see in candidates? Flexibility. Most places of work require someone who can think on their feet… and let’s face it, if it doesn’t, then it’s probably a boring place to work.
They need someone like you, someone who has experienced great changes in life and know how to adapt to them in order to get the job done and be successful.
And not to put it too harshly, but wouldn’t you be hesitant to hire someone who can’t or won’t be flexible? Those kinds of people are often difficult to work with… which means they just stand in the way of productivity and progress.
4. Change Brings More Excitement
We know that humans rely on (and thrive on) routine. Routine, good habits, sticking to a schedule are all GREAT ways to remain steady and stable! But think about those ordinary days when something surprising happens.
Maybe you received a letter you weren’t expecting from a friend. Or think about how it feels to rearrange furniture or how it feels after you’ve had a massive episode of spring cleaning!
Essentially, these kinds of everyday changes are refreshing after seeing and experiencing the same routines day in and day out. Think about the kinds of excitements that can come from big life-altering changes!
A career change is especially exciting because you get to meet new people, make new friends, and potentially do something that excites you rather than bore you (like, perhaps, your previous job!).
5. More Opportunities Come Your Way
Guess what? Saying “YES” to one opportunity paves the way for more opportunities to come. Whatever your belief system, we believe in getting out of life what we put into it.
When you work hard toward a goal, your dreams will come to fruition. When you let go of your resistance to change, you will see more and more opportunities that you hadn’t seen before.
When you want to (or have to) make a career change, you are given more opportunities to explore different fields and different job positions for yourself.
Meeting new people and being in new places is a surefire way of finding new opportunities. And in these times, an opportunity is a gift. We don’t want you to miss it!
Change doesn’t have to be at all scary.
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Photo Credit: @bdchu614 on Unsplash
This article originally appeared on Optimized Career Solutions