Ask Yourself These Questions When Dealing With Uncertain Situations
It’s perfectly normal to feel a little uncomfortable when faced with major or even minor changes in our lives. But it goes beyond mere fear of the unknown: by the time most people reach adulthood, they have likely experienced at least one change that has only made things worse, not better.
For example, you might have quit one job because of a toxic manager or workplace, only to find out that your new boss is even meaner than your previous one. After such an experience, you may be especially resistant to change for fear that it might make life difficult for you again.
While change and the uncertainty that comes with it are often inevitable, we can control how we respond to and accept them. Here are three questions that can help you with this.
How to overcome rigidity when faced with change
As a senior adviser in the Obama White House, Maya Shankar, Ph.D. , a cognitive neuroscientist, founded and chaired the White House Behavioral Science Panel, whose goal was to “help people who want to take a certain step but may face some roadblocks.” “. she told the New York Times in 2015. She also discusses the challenges of change on her podcast ” A Small Change of Plans “.
In a recent TED Talk, Shankar recommended asking yourself these three questions when you especially dislike change:
- How might this change improve your abilities?
- How might this change affect what you value?
- How might this change change how you define yourself?
It’s not about ignoring negative outcomes or pretending everything is fine even when it’s not. Instead, the goal of Shankar’s exercise is to encourage us to “remain open to how we can change internally” and think about how adapting to the situation and uncertainty can ultimately benefit us in the long run.