I like the idea that change is like a river, as everything is continually moving. The river has often also been used as a metaphor for life: Flowing fast or slow, changing courses but never stopping.
Personally and professionally, it has never been so important to cope with the fast reality we are living in.
Most of the time when we talk about change, we hear comments on how it’s affecting us and the way we are enduring and undergoing a certain situation.
The next thing is that we tend to hear more the critics of the change and the debates on what is done “wrong” or what could be “different” with the ideas of how it should be instead.
But the whole process can also be reversed, we can start by being the change we want to see, embodying what we dream of, it’s all starting from ourselves.
Isn’t it essential in these volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) world to take the driver’s seat of the car instead? Being the one that embodies the change we want to see.
In our current world trip, I was given the opportunity to experience myself taking the driver seat, literally: At some point, we lost my husband’s driver’s license, which implied that I had to be the only one driving on the other side of the road (not to say: the “wrong” side of the road!)… So “taking the driver’s seat” became more than a metaphor for me. It was not planned and it was challenging. And there was also great learning in the experience.
What I would like to emphasize is that it all starts with you and what you can do: Acknowledge your strengths, search for reachable options, work on yourself first, and then check your possibilities to influence the situation and turn your better self into actions.
My biggest learning
Exposure to different world views and beliefs heightens people’s critical thinking and appreciation of diversity. It makes a big difference to receive warmth from people with different ethnic and religious backgrounds as you travel. It is something I feel very grateful for. Connecting with these beautiful souls and giving back what I’ve learned from them in training and coaching sessions is how I aim to turn these learnings into action. Transfer knowledge and experience from which to grow in this multicultural world.
What about You?
