Don’t be afraid to change

Are you afraid to change your life?

Change can be really scary. None of us likes the unknown, familiar is always more comforting. Unfortunately “everything you want is on the other side of fear”, as Jack Canfield said.

I love change. 

I know that is strange, and I should qualify that I love change that I instigate. I think that is a distinction that needs to be made when we talk about change. When change happens to us, rather than us taking the reins, it isn’t as easy to accept. 

From being very young I have loved changing my environment, I love changing my hair and my look, and I have always been able to change my circumstances if something felt wrong or wasn’t making me happy. I firmly believe that we change continually throughout our lives and as a result many other aspects of our lives must change too. 

I have changed university courses because the first one I started didn’t feel right. I have moved house, ended relationships and had many different careers over the years because as I changed and grew, things just didn’t feel right anymore.

When I started teaching I thought I would be a teacher all my life, like my mum, and in a way I will always be a teacher, but it wasn’t the right career for me once I became ill. Over the years I have had many businesses and they have all taught me so much. Some have taught me practical business skills, some have taught me techniques and they have all taught me a lot about myself and what I need to be happy. 

It is always better to be brave and make a change, than to stay put and be miserable. My latest big change is not about my career, I have never been more passionate about anything I have ever done. I had no idea everything I love could be combined so perfectly into a job. No, this change is about my own writing. As you may know, I have been writing my memoir, and I really believed that was going to be my first book. I am more than half way through my second draft, so it has been a considerable committment. I realise now that, for now at least, this book was just for my own therapeutic purposes. One long writing therapy project. 

So, this week I have started my new book. I’m not going to share what it’s about yet, but it is something I am incredibly passionate about and I am so excited to be starting this new writing project and will take you on this adventure with me. 

I have put years of my life into my memoir, but it doesn’t excite me anymore, and although I can’t rule out publishing it one day, it doesn’t feel right at the moment. So, I am making a change and, as I have always done, starting something new. Something that combines all my passions and makes my heart sing. 

If there is an aspect of your life that doesn’t feel right anymore, it might be a job, a location, a friendship, even a relationship, you have two choices: you can be brave and make a change, or you can stay still and face the consequences. What choice will you make?

More articles on change:

Don’t be afraid to change

Is your life changing?