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Key points
- The state of hypervigilance many have been experiencing during COVID has resulted in an over-anxious response to change.
- Reframing change can help us overcome change fatigue that has become so prevalent in our pandemic-impacted lives.
- There are specific evidence-based strategies we can employ to help us embrace change as a natural part of our lives.
A few weeks ago, as my daughter and I walked our usual lap through our neighborhood, I saw it: the first red leaf peeking out through the lush summer green foliage. Every year, this particular branch on this particular tree is the first to shut down its chlorophyll production, becoming a crimson harbinger of the changing season. Its message begins as a whisper that crescendos as its neighboring leaves join the chorus, soon all shouting, “Change is coming!”
Typically, I love it when the seasons change. Yet, this year I am having trouble mustering enthusiasm for yet one more change in any domain of my life. Like many of you reading this, I am exhausted by change at the moment. Instead of feeling excitement for the gifts autumn brings, all I can think about are the leaves I will soon need to rake up, the energy I will expend winterizing my house, and the loss of daylight that is coming as each passing day the number of hours I see the sun grows shorter into winter. My unenthusiastic response to change is perhaps not surprising. Given the daily pivots that we have had to navigate over the past three years, along with the ongoing societal uncertainties we continue to face, change fatigue has become the norm. Recent research suggests that the amount of change that the average employee can absorb without becoming fatigued has been cut in half compared to 2019.
As I walk into new leadership (yet again) at all levels of my organization, coupled with preparing my own teenagers for another year of who-knows-what-school-looks-like, evolutions in my spouse’s professional sphere, and a national political landscape that leaves me questioning things I have long held true, this little leaf did not feel like a signal of the natural rhythms of change that ebb and flow in our lives. Suddenly, any shift feels like a cautionary canary in the coal mine, warning me to turn around and find the nearest exit from the never-ending tunnel of change.
Reflecting on the roller coaster of life we have all been riding since COVID upended our long-set routines and assumptions, it is perhaps no wonder that I am seeing cautionary canaries everywhere. Research shows that when we have been in a state of hypervigilance (perhaps like constantly trying to keep a virus at bay for over two years?), we become focused on noticing potential threats, thus creating a feedforward loop in our mind that increases anxiety. This realization helped me understand my over-anxious response to a simple leaf. I have been looking for and thinking about all the things that could harm me for months, so of course my brain is working overtime to seek out and find every canary in every coal mine so that I might turn back around to safety.
Yet, I know that there is no turning around from every leaf that crosses my path and that every change cue is not a signal of impending doom. Change is a natural and needed element of a healthy life. Inspired by the quote from my dear colleague Dr. Nadya Zhexembayeva, a thought leader on reinvention, who said, "Change is not a punishment. It is the ultimate freedom to make a choice," I am working to reclaim my relationship with change. In doing so, I am working to revisit my reaction to my little red leaf and other harbingers of change that will continue to come in the days ahead.
Knowing that the rest of that tree’s leaves are going to change and fall no matter what I do, and that my organization, family, and community are going to continue to navigate evolutions regardless of my fatigue, I have the freedom to make a choice in how I react to these inevitable shifts.
Perhaps my little red leaf is not a cautionary canary after all, but rather a promise of possibilities yet to come if I chose to see it as such. From the many ideas circulating in our field about how to embrace change, these three intentional practices are helping me choose to see change as a possibility versus a punishment (and may help you too):
1. Cultivating Curiosity
Research suggests that “people who are regularly curious and willing to embrace the novelty, uncertainty, and challenges that are inevitable as we navigate the shoals of everyday life are at an advantage in creating a fulfilling existence compared with their less curious peers” (Kashdan & Silvia, 2009). More recently, curiosity has been identified as an antidote to burnout when adopted as a reflexive attitude in the uncertain and complex world in which we live. Shifting from the internal narrative of, “Oh, no!” to instead “Oh, what might be?” is one of the easiest ways to activate our curiosity reflex and relieve some of the angst that comes with change.
2. Appreciating Anticipation
In thinking about how we embrace change (versus being frozen with anxiety by it), insights from well-being research suggest that anticipation for the future is an important piece of the puzzle. Expecting forthcoming events aids us to prepare mentally and behaviorally for changes in our environment, which can benefit us to adapt accordingly. Recently, psychologists have reminded us that anticipation of something as simple as a weekend trip can help cultivate as much (if not more) pleasure than the trip itself. Today, there is a growing stream of prospective psychology exploring how our ability to envision and evaluate possible futures is perhaps as good, if not better, predictor of our behavior as past behaviors. This work reminds me of the importance of simply asking myself, “What am I looking forward to today … this week … this month?” as an important habit of a healthy, change-ready mind.
3. Looking for a Laugh
A good laugh can serve as a release value to our over-pressurized lives. Referred to as the relief theory, the mental and physical release of pent-up energy has been one of the primary approaches used to understand the underlying mechanisms of humor. Furthermore, research has shown that the benefits of humor include everything from lower stress, to increased team cohesion and job performance at work, to creating effective learning environments, to enhanced quality of life as we age. From letting myself laugh at the ridiculousness of yet more change coming my way, to actively scheduling time with those who help me engage my funny bone, intentionally creating opportunities to laugh is part of my change-well-being regimen.
This week when I walk by my little crimson harbinger, noticing the swell of leaves changing daily whether I want them to or not, I will choose to not see a perilous warning, but an invitation for new possibilities.
References
Kashdan, T. B., & Silvia, P. J. (2009). Curiosity and interest: The benefits of thriving on novelty and challenge. In S. J. Lopez & C. R. Snyder (Eds.), Oxford handbook of positive psychology (pp. 367–374). Oxford University Press.
