Tweet

Get Clues From Nature on Mastering Change

Written by: Theresa-Maria Napa

Article Overview: During this time of recession hibernation it is a perfect time to reflect and start fresh. It is the natural thing to do. Unlike the quarterly months of the seasons, the recession hibernation season is going to take longer. However, that doesn’t mean you stop planting seeds for a new future. For many what to plant is a mystery. What was planted in the past no longer bears fruit. One thing to bear in mind when planting is to rotate your strengths instead of relying on past performance and production much like a farmer rotates his crops to enrich the soil.

Get Clues From Nature on Mastering Change

“We have it in our power to begin the world all over again. A situation similar to the present hath not appeared since the days of Noah until now. The birthday of a new world is at hand.”—Thomas Paine

There are all kinds of cycles. In looking up the term “economic cycles” I found the following definition:

“Traditional business cycles undergo four stages: expansion, prosperity, contraction, and
recession. After a recessionary phase, the expansionary phase can start again.”

I thought: “Isn’t that interesting? The traditional business cycle undergoes four stages much like the four seasons of nature.”

• Recession = the hibernation of winter
• Expansion = the planting of seeds in spring
• Prosperity = the blossoming of seeds in summer
• Contraction = the fall when nature contracts before the onset of winter

Globally most of the world is experiencing major winter effects of recession. Large portions of the population have been forced to hibernate to unfamiliar territory due to monetary losses or are lying dormant with many of their spending practices.

With the influx of the media reminding us about the horrific financial crises individuals, organizations and governments are facing, it stirs up all kinds of emotional reactions, especially fear. But not everyone is fearful. There are people from all walks of life who are planting seeds of opportunities – opportunities to transcend their latent talents, which have been suppressed in the past fearful of following their destiny. Don’t let the word destiny scare you. False humility keeps you in the past dwelling in what no longer exists or serves you.

During this time of recession hibernation it is a perfect time to reflect and start fresh. It is the natural thing to do. Unlike the quarterly months of the seasons, the recession hibernation season is going to take longer. However, that doesn’t mean you stop planting seeds for a new future. For many what to plant is a mystery. What was planted in the past no longer bears fruit. One thing to bear in mind when planting is to rotate your strengths instead of relying on past performance and production much like a farmer rotates his crops to enrich the soil.

When change is thrust upon you unexpectedly it catches you off guard. You might look around for something familiar to grab onto for assurance, but there is little left. You are in unchartered territory filled with a blend of uncertainty, doubt, fear, anxiety, and survival instincts. These are not unusual feelings during change.

Resisting change is like trying to roll a boulder up a mountain instead of learning how to reach the top skillfully, intelligently and wisely. You don’t have to do it alone either! You will reach the top of the mountain easier with support of like-minded individuals believing in the possibility of reaching the top.

The beauty of nature is it goes through what it is born to be and do. The barren trees in winter aren’t fearful of starting anew in the spring, blossoming in the summer, and then contracting in the fall by letting go to return to their winter phase.

Unfortunately when fear rides your thought forms in periods of transition you forget it is your nature to evolve to your next highest level. Fear can lead you down the wrong path to feeling helpless and unloved. The truth is you are naturally creative, resourceful, whole and lovable. You are meant to grow stronger through self-awareness which leads to creative leadership rather than reactive leadership.

The Chinese Taoist Philosopher, Lao Tzu, encouraged his followers to observe and seek to understand the laws of nature; to develop intuition, and to evolve one’s personal power using it to lead life with love and without force.

“The journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.” –Lao Tzu

Tips:

1. Take advantage of change to reflect and retreat from outside and inside nonsensical chatter. Write your thoughts in a journal without judging or stopping to edit. Let your thoughts flow on paper.

2. Become more attune to your awareness of your natural senses of touch, listening, sight, taste, smell and balance. More than likely you have led a more reactive existence and have become insensitive to what’s happening in the NOW. Thinking about the past and worrying about the future desensitizes your awareness of the moment. When you increase your keenness to being in the NOW you experience the magnificence of you and your Higher Power.

3. Take time out to care of your self physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.

4. Make lists of what you can control and what you can’t control. This will give you realistic guidelines from which to start skillfully climbing your mountain. What often happens is the discovery that you can’t control everything. This is futile thinking and creates unnecessary stress.

5. From the list of what you can control, what opportunities can you create? Be outrageous in your thinking outside of the box.

6. Remember Anything Is Possible - Especially when you are willing to utilize the cycles of life to access the power within to be the leader you are meant to be.

Related Articles
  Lag Time
  Mastering The Secret and Create Success!
  Effective Listening: Part 2
  Complete Sales Reference Manual Now Available
  REDUCING STRESS--- NATURE

Article Tags: business cycle, business cycles, contraction, economic cycles, emotional reactions, false humility, financial crises, hibernation, influx, latent talents, major winter, monetary losses, onset of winter, perfect time, planting seeds, recession, thomas paine, traditional business, unfamiliar territory, walks of life
Referred by: http://www.LeadingEdgeCoaching.com



Related Forum Posts
Re: Spellcheck? - [quote="TheAnonymousMan":2f894q6j]When discussing the majority of people I would definitely say that most people hit the "Change" or "Ignore" button without thinking too much about the correct spelling of a word. All bosses are concerned about is getting the report to the Directors meeting on time.[/quote:2f894q6j] That probably depends on what the "majority" are trying to accomplish. I have word set to alert me about misspellings and grammatical problems, so I fix most as I go. But I also add names etc to the dictionary because I get tired of seeing the red and green squiggles when I know the info is right. If you're only going to click "Change" or "Ignore" then why bother to take the time to use spell check????? Business people that I work for want the info compiled in a timely manner and they want it right - which is fine because that's the way I strive to do any project. Sending out a memo, letter, report etc with obvious spelling and grammatical mistakes makes the person and the company look bad as far as I'm concerned. Shri
Re: e-Commerce and e-Payment providers - Hi GT It is only fairly recently that people in South Africa have been able to get full use of Paypal as we were only able at one time to make payments but not receive them. Fortunately this has now changed. I have received money through Global X Change for one of the affiliate programs that I promote and have found them pretty good as the money is normally transferred directly into my bank account within 2-3 days and I have not had any problems with them. MichelleJ
Re: Obama Wants Social Security for Illegals - [quote="Alan Mater":3kaa8sg4] Obama WILL make changes... but they're not the changes we as a country need or should look forward to.[/quote:3kaa8sg4] Sad but this is exactly how I feel about it. Change is coming - but unless I'm really wrong, it is not a change this country needs. Amazing how much a good speaker with a good speech writer can do. If you paid attention to the things he said "off script" - much of it is frightening. Chris
Are you an Opportunity Addict? - 1) if you find yourself saying yes without thinking about how it will affect your other priorities 2) you have over 10 projects/inventions going on at the same time and this seems normal to you 3) you have spent hundreds and thousands of dollars on manufacturing, prototypes, etc. not to mention thousands of hours of your time....but you havent followed through on any of it 4) most of your projects are falling behind or have completely fallen off your radar....which is fueling your frustration The first step in recovery is to recognize this as a pattern of self sabotage. If you are clear in what your overall goals and objectives are, you should be able to create a lens through which you measure opportunities. You create your life, and your to do list. Change, Add, Remove, Adjust time-lines - whatever you like. But remember that every piece of unfinished business - stays that way J
You are too young - I don't really believe (I've been into web designing for 7 years now... I started in 2000) there is any web design laws. Besides the fact that you can't use copyrighted images on web design without permission from the original author. Also, any web designs you do you may want to have it copyrighted so other's can't steal your idea's or whatever... of course, you can offer a "Copyright Change" option for a bit more money that will allow you to be able to transfer the copyrights and give exclusive rights to the purchaser. All in all, don't worry about the laws... you should be fine, just remember that if your in the U.S. that if your making over $400 (or maybe its $600) in revenue, you'll have to pay taxes to the government... and please get a LLC, although its not a big thing with web designs, you could get into legal trouble somewhere in the business. Lastly, use contracts for when your selling or use agreements to clear the air so that you can have a safe business and you'll have some backing up if you ever are taken to court.


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

What is Discretionary Cash Flow

Qualities of Leadership Part 1

Are You Fulfilled

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.