We’ve been living in the same home and neighbourhood for almost 18 years. Our home has been a constant in the many challenges and changes our family has been through.
And now, we’ve decided to change that constant.
It’s been a few months in the making, months of talking and thinking and doing. A lot of doing. And now we’re about to rent our home out and move into a rental home near the beach, and near my daughter’s new school. Like many plans, we’ve been enjoying the process of dreaming and imagining and telling our friends about it. But as it’s about to happen – later this month – we’re feeling all kinds of FEELINGS.
As a change specialist, I’m very familiar with how change works, and there’s one thing that I remind myself to calm the household nerves: this change is not forced upon us.
It’s a change that we’ve had an active part in envisioning and bringing about. And that makes all the difference, whether it’s moving house, or going through a process of change at work.
I want to share three things that I’m choosing to focus on at this time. They can be useful whether you are moving house, moving jobs, or leading your team through change. Or you’re just looking to do things a bit differently from the previous year. Because a new year is a change too.
1. Expect the wobbles
We might wobble at different times, my daughter and I, but I know we both almost surely will. It doesn’t mean we’ll topple over. Whether you choose the change coming your way or not, you will wobble. Think of it as balancing on a bike. And keep riding.
2. Communicate
What’s going to make those wobbles surmountable is talking through them. There will definitely be times when things don’t work the way we were hoping they would, or one of us is doubting the whole decision. But I know that it’s communicating that will pull us through. The more you communicate through the challenges of a change, the more likely it will be successful.
3. Stay curious
I know this move is going to change how I work this year. I’ll be working more from home. I won’t know where anything is, what goes on where or how I can get involved. It might surface that uncomfortable feeling we get when we’re new at something or somewhere. And I’m curious about how that will impact the rest of my work and life. No doubt there will be plenty of lessons and I welcome them all.
How about you? Are you heading towards any change of your own? And how are you preparing for it? Get in touch or you can comment on our Facebook post about change.
