Can I change? Yes, you can.

"What's on your mind?"

A simple enough question - one I often take for granted. When I'm sitting with a friend enjoying a catch-up over a cup of coffee it's a great way to reconnect and get a better sense of what's been happening in their world. After the past few years, I now recognize how important (and valuable) this question can be.

Three years ago this month, the world was thrown into the great unknown. A series of unprecedented and unexpected changes were thrust upon us all. Our health, safety, and sense of solid ground were challenged. It wasn't easy. After a few turbulent months of reorientation, things started to change. A staggering amount of adaptation, resiliency, and courage helped us arise from the ashes, putting a new spin on situations and circumstances that were far from optimal.

At every layer of our lives, we were shifted, and things haven't been the same since. "Zoom" became more than just a word to describe a fast-moving vehicle - it became a household name and a portal to a new way of connecting. The QR code, invented in 1994, made its splash onto the scene: according to Statista, there were over 75.8 million scans in 2021, and 2022 statistics were up over 400%. For some families, it was a struggle to survive; for others, it was a chance to redefine priorities and reclaim a sense of purpose and direction in the world. More than ever, it seems that our world is ripe for new ideas and full of inspiration to dream bigger, think bolder, and take risks.

Sometimes I want to ask the world the same question: "What's on your mind?" I often wonder what would happen if we could take the collective pulse of our society and what we might learn in the process.

Well, thanks to our handy friend, Google, now we can.

It may not be a secret that technology can track what we search for, but what might be interesting to note is what we can learn. Google Trends looks at the questions on our minds, the ways we are inspired, and the experiences that define us. In 2022, the question of the year was "Can I change?" Following 2021's question of the year, "Can I heal?", it may not come as a surprise that the current topic on the minds of many individuals and organizations has been one of change.

In their year-in-review video, Google shares "As the world reemerged, people searched for new ideas, new possibilities, and new ways forward."

(Watch the full video here.)

Change - and the unknown - can be scary. But with the right tools and strategies, change is something we can not only embrace but enjoy.

Being adequately resourced is one of the most critical aspects of navigating change. It’s tempting to think we need to turn outward to collect the tools we can use to support our process. But before looking for resources and tools we think we don’t have, we can look to the past to remind us of three major tools in our toolbox: Adaptability, Resilience, and Courage.

This "ARC" of tools gives us a starting point for navigating a path that isn’t often straight. If that's the case, our tools need to be flexible. These three tools—Adaptability, Resilience, and Courage—give us an “ARC” that allows us to move into change armed to take on whatever lies ahead.

Circumstances keep shifting and we keep adapting.

Barriers and roadblocks may (temporarily) hold us back, but we use each opportunity to get up, show up, and try again.

Even when things are uncertain and unknown, we take a step forward with courage.

If the last few years have shown us anything, it was that we are stronger than we knew and braver than we thought. Using tools and strategies, we can begin to construct our future. What lies ahead is a path that we can build, one step at a time.

Can we change?

Yes. We can, and we will.

Balance and the Next Step Forward

Certainly with the year we’ve been experiencing, many of us are just trying to make it through each day. We don’t always have the luxury of finding moments to reflect on the great unknown. But what if there’s a way to find some joy in the thrill of choosing to step into the space of the unknown? Trust your body. I'm fully aware that you may feel like you're not only precariously balanced on a tightrope, but under a hot spotlight inside a circus tent. But. Trust your body. If we focus on tuning in to our body and taking it one step at a time, the next right step in our path often begins to emerge. Stepping forward into the unknown requires patience and is a process...but we might surprise ourselves - feeling positive anticipation or perhaps even rediscover a sense of joy in the journey.

The body possesses a natural intelligence that we often ignore - we consider ourselves thinking beings who feel, when we are actually feeling beings who occasionally think. Note: I'd love to take credit for this line, but it isn't my original thought. It came from the authors of Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle. In short, instead of asking us to ignore the very real obstacles and societal pressures that stand between us and our well-being, they explain with compassion and optimism what we’re up against - and how we can be empowered to create positive change.*

I felt an immediate connection to this topic, as in my work I often talk about cycles and the importance of taking time to consider them when it comes to our habits - specifically the idea of the cycle of "Before, During and After.” We find ourselves most often recognizing (or catching ourselves!) in afters, as hindsight is of course, quite an enlightening tool. Focusing on the process of habit, learning, and unlearning we can work on changing by not only affecting the during of any situation, but really looking at the before; or, what starts the cycle in the first place. This can be tricky because it requires balance. Recognizing where we’ve been, where we are, and not forgetting to consider where we want to go. Sometimes we have to stop and actively create the opportunity to establish a before...something not impossible but that requires intentionality. When we stop we have choices and can create opportunities to identify these before moments. In doing so, we create space for true change and both interrupt the loop of habit creation while completing this cycle, and reinforce the value of this practice

It’s often reflected to me that something as small as a change in mindset, posture, the way you walk or even sit can become a catalyst for other changes in your life. "There are certain habits that, once broken or adopted, tend to produce a landslide of other positive changes. These are known as 'keystone habits.' They reveal that successful change doesn’t depend on getting every single thing right, but instead relies on identifying a few key priorities and fashioning them into powerful levers." (This and other thoughts on habit come from an article on The Psychology of Habit, with excerpts drawn from Charles Duhigg's The Power of Habit.)

So whether you feel like you are precariously balanced on a tightrope or caught in a cycle you can’t seem to break, know that there are ways to shift into a different space. Focus on the next step, exploring your balance, and your path may just illuminate as you go!

*excerpt from an online description of “Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle