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Dear Fellow ALPHA,
As you know, change is the one constant in our lives. This word, change, can mean many different things to different people. How we each define change causes us to either thrive on it or shy away from it. The way you interpret this word will have a drastic impact on the direction your life will take.
Either way you look at it, there is no denying the fact that change will forever be present in your life. The question is, how can you have a healthy relationship with this enigmatic process? Better yet, how can you harness or control the power of change? Is that even possible…ah, yeah!
It starts with the realization that change is going to happen and accepting that fundamental truth. The longer you stick your head in the metaphorical sand, trying to hide from change, the more futile your life becomes. So, lets just skip the step where I convince you to get on the change train…it’s already left the station anyway.
Every aspect of life is designed to change. Even that ugly pink flamingo in your neighbor’s lawn is fading as you read this. Nothing is static. In fact, I frequently remind clients how stagnation leads to dysfunction. In order to live a dynamic life we need sustainable growth in the form of physical and mental increase. Without sustainable growth we start to regress.
The key to harnessing the kinetic energy that change possesses is simple. Make a few small changes over a period of time. I know this seems too easy to be true. However, small changes frequently lead to huge results and most importantly sustained growth.
From birth we are wired for small changes. Our psychology and physiology is designed to adapt to our environment. This adaptation process works most efficiently when we are exposed to small changes over a period of time. Think back to some of the hardest times in your life, my guess is you were experiencing a large amount of change at one time.
When we experience extreme changes our adaptive abilities become stressed. This stress is usually experienced as physical or psychological pain, however everyone has a slightly different tolerance. The reason for this is because everyone has a different adaptive threshold, which is the body’s ability to respond healthfully to an environment.
In rare cases, some people have an innate ability to adapt quickly or may be seen to have a very high pain threshold. These people are usually immensely driven individuals willing to withstand the pain associated with radical change to achieve their goal. However, even in these rare individuals they need a break from the pain or it will end up destroying them.
The majority of people thrive, both mentally and physically, when small changes are implemented. The reason people over look the power a few small changes can have over the long term is because of two reasons.
First, they have short term mentality. They are consumed with seeing immediate results and often small changes do not produce instantaneous results. Second, people fail to see the inner-laced connection that all of their choices have. It’s common for people to be ignorant to the fact their choices have a compounding effect. Many of my clients think their choices, except in rare cases, have no lasting consequences. This is a fallacy that needs to be snuffed out right now.
Our choices are not linear, they are not progressing from one stage to another. This is the foundational quality many people fail to understand. Your choices are NOT singular events. Every choice comes with a cascading outcome that influences all aspects of your life and frequently leads to similar choices and outcomes.
Perhaps it is obvious by now that rather than a linear progression, choices have a more exponential quality to them, they becoming more rapid over time. This is the power change possess: exponential growth. Harness it properly and you will see success. Fail to understand this principle and you will wake up one day wondering why you didn’t achieve your dreams while other people with less talent achieved more.
Harnessing the power of change is how a successful businesses grow, intelligence is developed, technology evolves, and it’s even how children learn to walk. Small shifts in behavior are what cause a ripple effect and determine destiny. This is because a small change becomes magnified over time. Once you start down a path, as I mentioned before, your choices quickly lead to similar choices. In retrospective, the results are undeniable.
So, if you want to harness the power of change, choose to make a small positive shift in your behavior. Make choices that don’t overload your innate adaptive abilities, but choices you can permanently adapt to. Once those choices become second nature, lean forward and make another set of (small) choices. In a short amount of time you will be able to look back and see the positive direction your life has taken.
Until next time,
Attack your life with passion!
Brandon DiNovi
Co-Founder and CEO, RAM
