Who Changed That...

I'm busy at the moment with various learning and development projects, but one thing that never seems to change is the sudden about-turn that's required when one project goes quiet for whatever reason, and another suddenly becomes vitally important with a deadline of yesterday.

I've often joked about the saying 'the only constant is change', but it's so true.  How many industries and jobs are there now, that didn't exist 10 years ago?

This reminded me of a book I read a number of years ago - Who Moved My Cheese. If you haven't read it, then get a copy.  It's a small book and doesn't take long to read.  

Here are a couple of the points that resonated with me.  

Change happens: Whether we want it to, or dread it.  Whether we go with it or bury our heads, change happens.

The biggest inhibitor to change is you. Oh no it's not, we say, but it is comfortable here, and things are very nice.  Why can't they stay the same? 

When you move beyond your fear you feel free.  This is an interesting one.  I tend to think of fear as terror or horror, but fear is also something that stops us doing things.  So when we push ourselves to get beyond it, we feel an amazing exhilaration.  It's a great feeling, and there's nothing quite like it.  We should all do it more often.

There's a difference between activity and productivity.  Even knowing this, I still find myself busy, but not always productive.  It's so easy to spend time on blog posts, emails, Twitter etc. and not actually produce the all-important word-count. 

It also has a lot to do with making goals, and prioritising what's important.  

Most of us don't have control over every hour of our day.  We have work, families and other committments, but what about the hours we do have control over?  What do we do in that time? 

Do we spend it watching TV or on activities that contribute to our goals?  Putting it like that makes it sound virtuous, but dreary.  Ultimately we have to decide for ourselves.  At the moment I'm very aware of time, and that we don't always have the endless supply of it we often imagine.  

Change happens - embrace it, or at least deal with it.

Get busy and don't wait to live the life you've been dreaming.