Spring is in the air.   As the trees bud and flowers bloom we think about renewal and rebirth.   It’s a time of change.  Many of us have something we’d like to change in our lives, but we are paralyzed with fear.  Why? People don’t like uncertainty, so instead of delighting in what’s possible we stay the same rather than risk the unknown.

Our brains also get in the way of change.  Our brains view change as a threat causing us to use a part of our brain used for survival and diverts resources from our thinking brain.  Change takes effort, focus an energy and given the choice our brain wants the familiar.

One thing that can help is for the rewards of the change to be clearly understood and referred to often.   A certain level of stress can accompany a change, so having skills to help you recover quickly  from this stress helps too.  As does tapping into your ability to identify and focus on what matters most and challenge yourself to deliver on that capability.

Following Pareto’s Principle, list in order of priority the 10 things that you most want to change to improve the quality of your life, relationships and well-being.  Then focus on the top two, and you’ll get an 80% return on everything you want and need in your life.  It’s worth a try.  Put fear aside and delight in the possible.