"Inflexibility is one of the worst human failings. You can learn to check impetuosity, overcome fear with confidence, and laziness with discipline. It carries the seed of its own destruction"

-Anonymous

• Ask a lady who lives in Perth to wind up her business and move to Cairns. Unless the reason to move is tempting, she is likely to say 'no'

• Ask a man to wind up his business of marine products and start working for a construction company. Once again unless he is convinced he will not take such a step

• Your rent has gone up. You have recently bought a house and you are likely to get the possession in about six month's time. You have a choice to rent a cheaper apartment in the interim period or continue to live in your current apartment at a higher rent. Unless moving is easy, it is likely that you will continue to pay the extra rent. Moving to a new apartment would mean paying moving costs and security money two times before you are settled in your own house. It is likely that you may avoid getting into all the hassles unless it is really worth it.

• Hundreds of people want to give up drinking, smoking, and using drugs. They struggle to give up their habits but are not successful. People prefer the comfort of their current situation to changing and dealing with an unknown scenario

How people deal with change in their personal life depends on how they deal with change in general. Why do people resist change in their personal life? Let us try and understand.

• People resist newness in their personal lives, because new beginnings have strange implications. Imagining the consequences of new things is hard. Take the example of buying a new house. There are hundreds of thousands of questions in one's mind before making the final decision. Will I be comfortable in this house? How far will I have to travel for work from my new house? Is the neighborhood safe? Is there a good school in the district? Will I be able to get a home loan? Will I be able to pay the installments on time? Will my family be happy to live in the new house? It is very stressful to make changes and sometimes people choose to not make the changes at all.

• People are also resistant to change when they do not have all the information about what the change means or how the change will impact them. Certainly this can be dealt with by doing good research. Read books, browse online, visit forums, and take a session of counselling or advice to help you understand the situation carefully. It has been said that, "Ignorance is bliss", but is that really true? Do problems go away, if we bury our heads in the sand? I think not.

• Dealing with uncertainty is also very stressful. Making personal changes is a gamble. You do not know if you will be happy or not. People do not like to get angry, sad, confused, perplexed, or disoriented. I would like to quote the three characteristics of flexible people from John Maxwell's book "The 17 Essential Qualities of a Team Player" that one should try to emulate.

1. Flexible people are teachable and are eager to break new ground

2. They are emotionally secure and thus change does not make them nervous, and

3. They are creative because creativity fosters adaptability

"People who lack all three of these characteristics will usually resist change. Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be bent out of shape!"

-Michael McGriff

Gloria M Hamilten is a recognized authority in disciplines within Personal Development and People Skills for Business Professionals, such as Time Management, Negotiation Skills, Developing High-Performance Teams, Assertion Skills, Building International Rapport, Conflict Management and Resolution, Presentation and Platform Skills.

Her studies in Neuro-Linguistic Programming and Psychology have lead to her researching brain disorders such as AD-HD and its relations.

She has her own training business, and conducts courses for Corporate Organizations, Sporting groups and Tertiary Educational Institutions in Australia.

Her professional experience covers over 30 years of study, research, one-on-one coaching, group coaching, presentations and workshops. Her clientele includes children as well as adults.

Gloria Hamilten has authored the eBook: "Successful Self-Hypnosis" and many Reports and online articles.

Her websites provide a wealth of informative articles and resources on everything within these genres.

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