Episode 1034: The Devil You Know

[00:00:00] Scott Maderer: Thanks for joining me on episode 1034 of the inspired stewardship podcast.

[00:00:07] Jeff and Kristin Ingram: I'm Kristen

[00:00:08] and I'm Jeff from small biz life podcast. If you're calling us to be a small business owner, we challenge you to grow yourself and find your true identity. So you can be empowered to live your calling

[00:00:19] Scott Maderer: women way to be inspired to do that is to listen to this, the inspired stewardship podcast with our friend.

[00:00:27] We often try to resist it. We often try to keep it from happening because we think that somehow if we kept everything the same, even if things aren't exactly the way that we want them to be, that comfort is worth keeping the pain of the same. Is worth keeping because it's less than the pain of the chain.

[00:00:52] Welcome. And thank you for joining us on the inspired stewardship podcast. If you truly desire to become the person [00:01:00] who God wants you to be, then you must learn to use your time, your talent and your treasures for your true color. In the inspired stewardship podcast. We'll learn to invest in yourself, invest in others and develop your infant.

[00:01:15] So that you can impact the world.

[00:01:18] And today's episode about impacting the world through stewarding your talent. I talk with you about why we resist change. I talk about what we need to do to lower our resistance to change. And I also share why, even though change is inevitable, we often try to keep it from happening. You've heard me talk about developing your team.

[00:01:40] And what are the best ways to do that is through books. But if you're like most people today, it's hard to find the time to read. And that's why today's podcast is brought to you by audible. Go to inspired stewardship.com/audible to sign up and you can get a 30 day free trial. [00:02:00] There's over 180,000 titles to choose from.

[00:02:04] And you can pick one and listen your way to developing your talents via. That's inspired stewardship.com/audible to get your free trial and listen to great books the same way you're listening to this podcast. I think we've all heard that expression, the devil the idea of people, whether it's in an organization, whether it's as an individual being resistant to change.

[00:02:35] So true that we've basically turned it into an expression. The idea that we'll stick with something bad, because we know it just because we're afraid of the change or resist the change. And aren't sure if the new thing will be better or worse, and that lack of surety keeps us from changing. Is really what that expression is about.

[00:02:59] [00:03:00] And the truth is there are lots of reasons why we resist change. Sometimes it's because we fear being different or being, and doing something different. We're creatures of habit. We like to do the same things over and over again. And just doing something new has a feeling of exposure.

[00:03:21] Sometimes if we have change going on, it leads to a feeling of overwhelm and stress because often change happens at the same time. As other things that are doing that are stressful happened, changes often brought on upon us from outside, or at least it feels that. We don't like to be seen as not doing what we've always done deviating from the status quo.

[00:03:49] And of course, if the change is being put upon you from outside, sometimes you simply don't trust the person that is putting the change forward. We see this [00:04:00] change as creating new problems or different problems, often changes brought upon us suddenly, and that suddenness. Causes a resistance to the change because it feels like a loss of control.

[00:04:15] It feels like we're giving up any sense of control we have. And again, change a lot of times happens when other rough things are happening. And so a loss of control on top of what may feel like other losses of control, make things even worse. It creates uncertainty and surprise and differences that we now have to struggle and integrate and become comfortable with by definition, change creates discomfort.

[00:04:50] And so we resist. The truth is there's actual biology behind this as well, because that inertia, that [00:05:00] tendency to go back to the state of something before is something that is true for us psychologically, as well as for a physical object, our brains actually Tre tend to connect to and value the familiar.

[00:05:20] And that neurobiology comes about because the ganglia in our brain are actually wired to operate a lot of what we do off of habit. That's why, when I say we're creatures of habit, it's true. And those bad habits, sometimes that we have actually create pleasurable feelings. In response at times because doing something consciously requires a lot more energy and effort.

[00:05:53] And so our brains like to save that energy. And so they tend to do things unconsciously. [00:06:00] If they're allowed to, it takes an input of energy to get yourself moving in a direction that you weren't already moving. That's what the law of inertia says about objects. And it turns out it's true about our habits and our behaviors and everything else we do mentally as well.

[00:06:21] So what can you do about it? What can you do to lower our resistance to change? First off, you need to think about what is it that is holding you back? What thoughts go through your mind when you think about doing this thing? Why are you hesitant? What are the fears you actually have to draw out?

[00:06:40] What's the unconscious things that you are afraid of or that you are resisting. And then if you can work to reframe that. Try to reframe the problem into other words or looking at it in another way. Find if you're afraid of something that's harmful, find the way to focus on [00:07:00] the benefits of it because very few things are all bad or all good.

[00:07:06] So find a way to focus on the parts of it that are beneficial. What's the silver lining for this change. You also want to think about and consider what your options. What's going to happen. If you don't execute the change what's going to happen. If you do. And how many ways can you generate to be able to do the change?

[00:07:28] Because there's already always more than two options. We have a tendency to think, do it, or don't do it, but there's other options on the table and almost every situation. Then sit down and begin to create a plan of action. What steps are you going to take? Try to break it down into the smallest steps possible.

[00:07:50] What's the least you can do that begins to move you towards that change involve accountability and support [00:08:00] from others. Because if we can bring in others into the process that often gives us more energy, that energy that it takes to create change. You're borrowing some of it from other people and then begin to take those small steps and actually put the plan into action.

[00:08:19] If you do these things, even though change is inevitable, even though change has to happen simply because each day is different than the day before, there is no way to prevent change completely. We often try to resist it. We often try to keep it from happening because we think that somehow if we kept everything the same, even if things aren't exactly the way that we want them to be, that comes from.

[00:08:48] Is worth keeping the pain of the same is worth keeping because it's less than the pain of the change. The irony is [00:09:00] that usually if you will get started on that change, if you will take some small steps, you'll discover that's not true. That actually the pain of the change as much less than you think it is.

[00:09:14] And as you do that, you will begin. To actually discover that the devil that isn't better than the devil that you don't. Thanks for listening.

[00:09:26] Thanks so much for listening to the inspired stewardship podcast as a subscriber and listener, we challenge you to not just sit back and passively listen, but act on what you've heard and find a way to live your call. If you liked this episode on the stewardship of talent, you can go over to inspired stewardship.com/talent and sign up for our five week series on the stewardship of talent.

[00:09:57] Or if you're in the us, you can text [00:10:00] 4, 4, 2, 2, 2 talent tips. That's talent tips to 4 4 2, 2, 2, and get those tips until next time. Invest your time. Your talent and your treasures develop your influence and impact the world.