Change. I don’t really like that word, and you may not either. I am the one to eat the same breakfast, lunch, and dinner and be perfectly happy with it. Hang on to the same T-shirt I wore in high school or keep the same bracelet, even though it is falling apart. Others might feel that it is necessary to switch it up or change something if it has become too repetitive or boring. Change of scenery, change of game, change of lifestyle. Heck, I've even had to change from my High school Afro hair. At the time I didn't want to do it, I looked good! Right..? Despite this, change is something that is often inevitable. One way or another, something big or small, change will happen. Everywhere in the world, at every minute, someone has to make a decision that they might not like to do and change for the better or for worse.
For lack of a better term, throughout this small blog, I will refer to external and internal change as;
External - change that we are not in control of
Internal - change that we can directly influence
Note* I have just created these small definitions based on how I see change.
When you think about change, it could be described positively and negatively, based on the situation. Main character got a buff? Good change! Main gun got a nerf? Bad change.. to put it in very basic terms. That change is something that has been implemented and set in stone that we cannot change. AKA external change.
Internal change, in my eyes, could be anything that we have direct influence over. Don't like the way my shirt is now, change it up. Not getting enough sleep at night, sleep 30 minutes earlier. Simple stuff.
However, what we can do is change the way we think about change, so that we become accustomed to dealing with it. Take that nerf example above. If your main gun is nerfed, then people might think that nobody will use it anymore, and will not have to worry about it being an issue. Whilst it is a negative change that the gun got nerfed, we might frame it as a positive change as no one will expect the gun to still be played, catching them off guard. Another example could be in League of Legends, whereby your main ADC that you've mained for quite some time now, has been nerfed considerably to the point it's embarrassing to even think about playing. Bingo, there's change there. Where you see yourself in a negative spotlight, you can frame that into a positive angle.
What negatives changes can you frame in your mind as positive? I'd love to hear about them.
"If our lives are already written, it would take a courageous man to change the script.” – Alan Wake
Embrace the change
Change is scary. I understand that. A lot of people don't want to change, but some must. Working with players and coaches in traditional and Esports has allowed me to understand different perspectives surrounding change, and how some people overcome the inevitable. It is important to understand that change is not one giant move, one big swing, or one large jump. You can mentally control the tempo of change, to be as fast or as slow as you want. However, in many instances, we cannot control the tempo of change that is outside of our abilities to do so. That is, we can't control something that is being controlled by others, only our reaction to it. External brought internal.
Coping with change
It is okay to not be able to handle the change. Yes you read it. It is perfectly fine not to be able to handle change and want to give up. Whether this be something we have spent learning for the past 5 years, or the past 5 minutes, each person deals with time differently and portrays different outcomes. Being able to evaluate the change will enable us to identify its direct impact upon what we do. What will I gain? What will I lose? Can I ignore it? Do I have to face it now? Relaaaaax. Take some time, flesh it out. Go for a walk and digest what has happened. Speak allowed and be proud to do it. You've made it before, and you are going to make it again.
Acknowledge the change
Being able to accept change is a crucial step in understanding it. When we come to terms with our own sense, it enables us to overcome and understand that we may need to relearn something or change a method that we have grown so used to doing. An example of this could be dealing with being let down as a player from a team. You may inevitably have to acknowledge that fact that your previous performances may not have been ideal, and a change is put in place to benefit the team. Acknowledging this is important and being let down from a team comes the self-disappointment. However, if you change your mindset towards pinpointing why you got let down and the reasons the changes were put in place, then you can in return create your own change. The change to be better. Nice.
Something changed recently in your life, whether that be as small a buying a new drink bottle to take to work or as large as moving country. Reflect on that. See you again soon.
