Coping with Change

With the accelerating pace of new technology and the burgeoning population of the world, the world will probably witness one of the most profound rates of change in the upcoming century. Previous centuries also likely required adeptness, if not even more so, at coping with change. However, the present century brings its own set of problems due to the rate of change and the amount of change. In order to survive, thrive, and be at peace with yourself during these times of great change, there are some general strategies that you can try to follow:

Root yourself firmly in who you are. Recognize and understand your own values. Try not to waver in what you deem to be right and wrong. Try to have a sense of justice and to firmly believe in some core beliefs that you should make a part of yourself. That way, you can return to your core values and ask yourself how you should act in a certain situation according to your core values. This will also allow for less confusion in your life. Even when external circumstances seem to keep changing and to be causing much confusion, you will be able to return to your own core self.

Consider no action. Sometimes (or maybe even most times), it may be better not to take any action. It may be better to sit still and to not allow other people to persuade you to act, to not allow the media to urge you to do this and do that, or to not let the actions of others prompt you to rash actions. Try not to be a lemming. Follow your own heart, and often, it is better just to let other people engage in the action and yourself to sit quietly at the sidelines. Of course, it is advisable to be flexible, and to listen and pay attention to the advice of others. When your instincts tell you that you should make a quick decision and act upon it decisively, then do so. However, before you decide to act and do this and do that, also consider the tactic of just staying put where you are and ignoring external messages if you do not feel that they are correct.

Think one step ahead. In contrast to the above piece of advice, sometimes it is advisable to keep pace with technology or to even think one step ahead of the crowd. If you feel that a certain technology will be useful 20-30 years down the road, why not exploit your keen sense of predicting the future with honing your skills in that area, creating a service or product in that area, or somehow positioning yourself that you will benefit from your foresight. In this manner, you are not merely coping with change, you are taking advantage of change to help others.

Study history. Fortunately for us, history and writing have been already invented for thousands of years. We can therefore make use of this wealth of information and study it. Once we study world history or perhaps one aspect of a more specific niche in history, we will better understand the forces of change, the forces of constancy, and how change creates new beginnings. This will give us better insight into managing our own lives and being better able to cope with and understand change in our own times. Studying history allows major and minor patterns to emerge such that we can better make decisions and manage our daily lives. We should make history our friend and learn from it. What took many years to unfold, you can very quickly learn about it.

Consider being an agent of change. If you think of a new or better method of doing something, devise a better system of sorting out confusion, or have an idea about how to improve the status quo, you can even consider being the leader and advocating or leading the way to the change. If you think that your method will help others and help society be more efficient or help people be happier, do consider paving the path for others to follow. Consider implementing your idea. Don't just talk about it. Take some action. Of course, you may fail along the way, but if you persist slowly and with a sense of purpose, one day you may succeed.

In summary, to better cope with change in our world, try the following:

  A. Root yourself firmly in who you are.

  B.  Consider no action.

  C.  Think one step ahead.

  D.  Study history.

  E.  Consider being an agent of change.

Life Skills > Common Sense Life Skills > Coping with Change