Make Change Work for You
Tuesday, June 8th, 2010
If there’s one thing in a woman’s life that stays the same, it’s change: From adolescence to young adulthood, to motherhood and beyond, a woman’s body changes every month. Decade by decade, our roles evolve at work, in our communities, and in our relationships with parents and children.
With change being such a constant, it’s important to take a look at how you negotiate the cycles and evolutions of life. “If you’re self aware, you can use times of change as positive, transformative experiences,” says APOGEE life coach Persephone Zill. But the twists and turns of life can be stressful for many. “How you dealt with change in the past is a pretty good indicator of how you will deal with it in the future,” says Persephone.
How you cope now: Your most valuable asset is your attitude about change. “You need to be able to recognize how you cope with change so you can develop ways to help yourself that work best for you,” says Zill. “Look at something like the recent economic downturn—how did you react to that?” Perhaps you were able to make adjustments, dial back in certain areas, or find satisfaction from simpler things. But if you tend to run away and hide out—by watching TV, surfing the internet, overeating, drinking alcohol, or overworking—then you may be missing out on opportunities to embrace change and find satisfaction from new behaviors and new ways of being. Mind-body exercise, such as yoga, Pilates and meditation, can help you develop more of an observing self-awareness of yourself and your attitudes about life events.
Identify your resources: To be certain you have a full range of tools to negotiate change, Persephone recommends looking at six areas of your life: physical/nutritional, family, social, mental, work/ finance and spiritual. (You can draw a circle and make each area a section, like pieces of a pie.) If each area is vital and satisfying, it has the potential to be a resource for you to draw on during times of change, says Persephone. But if an area is dormant or even a source of friction, it can deplete your energy and throw the whole pie out of balance, limiting your ability to deal with life’s shifts.
Achieve balance: As a life coach, Persephone helps women identify goals for areas of their life that are currently lacking. Paying attention to one or two neglected areas can enrich and energize the rest of your life, she says. “Exercise can help you sleep better and be more aware of how you react to stress,” she says. “Pursuing a hobby or a creative interest can create additional energy and open-mindedness that you can then use at work or with your family.”
Develop your life balance, says Persephone, and you’ll have the resources to adjust to change—or at least recognize that difficult situations will pass in time.
To learn about exercise, nutrition and life-coaching tools that will help during mid-life, peri-menopause and menopause, attend our free workshop, Embracing Change, on June 22 at APOGEE Bedford Hills. Learn more.
