Change. What of it?

By the time you read this article, the first month of the year will nearly be gone. If the research is to be believed New Year’s resolutions will be gone too. They were probably gone on day six of the New Year!

The reality is, we don’t need a New Year to make changes to our lives and how we want to live. Every day we are given a new opportunity to improve or make a change.

There are consequences to not changing and subsequently growing as a person. Hermann Hesse, a writer and recipient of the 1946 Nobel Prize for Literature, is credited with the following quote:

“We are the product of growth and are condemned to perish if we lose the capacity for further growth and change.” – Hermann Hesse

Ironically, the books Hesse wrote appealed to a young adolescent audience. Even books he wrote when he was in his fifties. This was frustrating to Hesse, yet critics would suggest his books were premised on a similar theme. The main character was a ‘punk Peter Pan’, someone who didn’t grow up, and despised those who do. It would seem that Hesse based his writing on his own life and much of his adolescent years which he had not moved on from.

Whether Hesse realised he needed to change what he was writing about to change his audience is unknown although it would appear he didn’t. Sometimes we are all like Hesse. Why should we change the way we do things, how we behave? It’s worked for me so far. Or has it?

We have habits which are ingrained in us and have been with us from our beginning.

“A habit is something you can do without thinking – which is why most of have so many of them.” – Frank A Clark

Habits are easy. Yet it can be hard to change a habit or behaviour. How do your habits and behaviour affect your working life? In fact, your life overall? It’s never too late to change.