Some things will never change.

But most things do.

Circumstances. Your environment. People.

The very nature of change is in its nature.

You are either growing or dying. There is no in-between.

Unless of course, you count this thing called “staying the same”.

We all fall in love with someone or something. When we do, we want to hold on to it for dear life, preserve it, and never see it changed in any way.

But to do so would be to accelerate its change and the speed of separation from your expectation of it remaining the way it is.

That’s why ‘same’ is just an illusion of permanence.

A false expectation of stability. A mirage of control.

Because nothing ever stays the same, nor should it, according to nature.

And the key reason is this: life is not a controllable environment.

There’s everything you can control.

Then there’s everything else that you cannot.

Generally, the number of things beyond your control far outweigh what you can.

Which is exactly why “staying the same” is not only a false illusion — it is a real danger and may even kill you.

Take, for instance, the devastating impact of COVID-19 on business around the world, for example.

Those who stayed the same and refused to adapt: perished.

Those who took the steps to understand the nature of this uncontrollable force and made quick, obvious changes necessary to survive, lived to fight another day.

And those who thrived in such economic turmoil and uncertainty?

Well, they didn’t stop at taking the immediate and obviously necessary steps to change but used that to buy time. Time, to completely re-imagine how they do business from the ground up, honing in on their unique selling propositions and sinking damaging egos & sunk cost fallacies.

Some changed so much, their customers almost didn’t recognize them — not for the worse but for the better, as if it were the real-life version of the transformation segment on Beauty and the Geek, without the fluff.

“If change is this important, why doesn’t everyone do it?”

Because it’s painful and hurts in the short term.

For the most part, it’s painful for you. On other occasions, it’s painful for everybody around you (employees, customers, suppliers, etc).

But that’s where leadership comes in to communicate the reasons why and secure buy-in from everyone. Sometimes, that leader is you, and you’re the only stakeholder involved.

Understanding all sides of the table and communication are major keys to change pain management. ‘Understanding’ is how change truly manifests into something positive.

Change, in the form of re-imagination, requires: 1) a deep understanding of the trigger forcing, or demanding change, and marrying that knowledge with 2) the core existential values, beliefs, people and resources currently powering your business to 3) strategize and pave a new way forward that gives you a compelling advantage as a result of making change.

For most, this will mean learning the new, breaking down the old, and rebuilding a new beast that isn’t easily pushed over by outside or inside influences.

Not everyone will agree with change. And not everyone has to.

But it is up to you to get them, and yourself, to buy into it.

Change is the only constant.

Will you embrace it, or choose to stay the same?

One for the road: learn to respect, and expect, change. There is no such thing as set and forget. Creating a cadence for strategy, decisions, and vision at both a personal and business level and encouraging feedback will help you stay proactive against forced change whilst enabling you to become better. You need to be better, in order to keep growing. Or risk the opposite.

“to market is to make love: passionately, purposefully and with intense pleasure. to connect at the most human level with consistency, dedication and flair, for a chance to manifest a relationship of pure romance, one unrivaled and unmatched for, and by, most.” — johnny bhalla