The Change Process: Uncomfortable Yet Necessary

Uncomfortable yet necessary.  That’s the underlying thought process and mission behind Blogging4Jobs.   Rayanne and I share content that sometimes makes you uncomfortable, and that’s okay.  You may not know it but it makes us uncomfortable too.  In fact, I want you to get mad, angry, upset, inspired, or passionate when you read what we have to say.  It’s part of the change process.  Things here on the site offer insights into leadership, technology, and the human capital management industry.  Sometimes that’s HR, Recruiting, and Social Media, but it’s often personal stories shared with an underlying business lesson.  The point is that change behind the uncomfortableness is never easy.  It’s riddled with anxiety, mistakes, difficulty, and sometimes pain.

Uncomfortable yet Necessary: Weight Issues

That’s a lot how I’ve been feeling lately, mostly the pain and anxiety, but also relief, confidence, freedom and clarity. In the nearly five years that I’ve been blogging here at Blogging4Jobs, I’ve never once blogged about my weight.  I just don’t talk about it.  Because if I don’t it’s a non-issue.  I muddle through.  I blog and plow through with a determined or smiling face and sometimes they are one in the same.

But in the back of my mind and at the end of the day, I wonder if I didn’t get that client or speaking gig because of my weight issues. It’s not just about the clients but more about my self-esteem coupled with my ability to change my own habits while I go around preaching to companies, recruiters, and HR professionals that they should adapt, adjust, and embrace change when it comes to social media and technology at work.  So instead I choose to blog here about being a domestic abuse survivor or being a teenage shoplifter when avoiding the one personal challenge I have that is staring me in the face: weight issues.

“Uncomfortable yet necessary.” 

Making Life Changes

In early December I committed to doing yoga 5 times a week.  Working with a private instructor, I have the entire room to myself.  Some of this reason stems behind the fact that I have a rather crazy schedule, but it’s also because I’m embarrassed and I also need the motivation.  I started slowly at first.  It was uncomfortable.  I was weak, and I also don’t like looking at myself in full length mirrors.  It’s something in most cases I try to avoid.  I don’t need to be reminded that I have a big butt or protruding gut when I’m about to go on stage for a keynote speech, but it’s something I can’t avoid.  Afterall, Spanx can’t fix everything.

Uncomfortableness & Yoga Poses

Then  a couple weeks ago I held this very engaged yoga strength pose for 15 full seconds.  It’s called the Dolphin Arm Plank.  Essentially, I’m holding myself up in push up stance except that my hands and forearms look like they are in prayer.  The forearms are holding up my entire body with a lot of help from my abs.  Killer stuff.  So I celebrated my success after completing the pose only for a moment until Mandy, my instructor moves me to the next killer yoga pose, the Side Plank all the while I keep thinking to myself, “Uncomfortable yet necessary.  Uncomfortable yet necessary.”

I’m nine weeks into my journey, committing to the change process that is uncomfortable yet necessary.  I want to feel better, have more energy, and look healthier.  I can tell you that while the beginning mission was to lose weight, the journey to get there is changing my own perspective.  It’s no longer about the weight.  It’s about making life changes and opening myself up to all kinds of change even the unexpected ones.  And so communicating the change is key. It helps solidify the change which is why I’ve chosen to blog about this today.

The Uncomfortable yet Necessary Change Process

Tower’s Watson’s 2011-2012 ROI of Change Management and Communication study supports my belief that change is hard but that effective communication eases the transition process. Companies highly effective at both communication and change management are 2.5 times as likely to outperform their peers as companies that are not highly effective in either area. You have to walk the talk.  Communicate the change and be committed to it and together the uncomfortableness is shared.

And so that’s what I’ve chosen to do today.  Share with you my journey, my success, and my vulnerability.  What types of changes have you personally or your organization have recently made?  What learnings can you share about that change and the growth you gained along the way?