How do I become more accepting change? (2023)

Why is it hard to accepting change?

Change interferes with autonomy and can make people feel that they've lost control over their territory. It's not just political, as in who has the power. Our sense of self-determination is often the first things to go when faced with a potential change coming from someone else.

There are three main reasons people hate change — lack (or perceived lack) of reward, fear of the unknown, and loss of status or visibility in the organization. Below, we've expanded on these reasons and provided ways to counteract them.

When a major life change happens, your brain automatically sees it as negative. This can influence your decision-making process and increase feelings of anxiety and depression. Learning the right techniques to deal with new or unexpected situations will benefit your mental health.

There are many different conceptualizations of coping strategies, but the five general types of coping strategies are problem-focused coping, emotion-focused coping, social support, religious coping, and meaning making.

The fear of change or changing things is called Metathesiophobia. It is often linked with Tropophobia which is the fear of moving. The origin of the word Metathesiophobia comes from Greek 'meta' meaning change and phobos meaning fear.

Things like job security, habit, and economic factors have a massive influence on individual resistance.

It's normal to experience feelings like anxiety, sadness and anger when our plans are threatened or disrupted; we've lost something that mattered to us. Allowing ourselves to fully feel our emotional reaction helps us to understand and process what happened, and to move forward.

Why is change so overwhelming?

"Change brings with it feelings of uncertainty and loss of control, even when the change is positive," says Dr. Jaime Zuckerman, a licensed clinical psychologist. "We are creatures of habit, and our brains like to be able to predict what comes next.

We fear change because it means that outcomes are unknown. Our brains are designed to find peace in knowing. When we don't know what will happen, we make up scenarios and, in turn, create worry. Humans find it hard to move on when something known comes to an end.

When your stress level exceeds your ability to cope, you need to restore the balance by reducing the stressors or increasing your ability to cope or both. Try using one of the four A's: avoid, alter, accept or adapt.

The Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior explains that those who struggle with addiction often struggle with maladaptive coping strategies; it could stem from denial, blame, guilt, trauma, abuse and much more.

The stages are shock, anger, acceptance and commitment. People's initial reaction to the change will likely be shock or denial as they refuse to accept that change is happening. Once the reality sinks in and people accept the change is happening, they tend to react negatively.

The fear of change is one of the most common fears that people face. I see it frequently among my therapy clients, and just as frequently among friends. Change is difficult for everyone; there are few people that don't feel somewhat anxious at the prospect of a major upheaval in their lives.

Resistance to change is common and can come in many forms. It can be subtle or overt, and it can be seen in both individuals or groups of people. Some examples might be missed meetings, sarcastic remarks, criticism, nitpicking, or even sabotage.

Why is personal change so difficult?

Behavior change is complicated and complex because it requires a person to disrupt a current habit while simultaneously fostering a new, possibly unfamiliar, set of actions. This process takes time—usually longer than we prefer.

The Hardest Part About Change is Taking Action.