We Don’t Get Better When Things are Easy

Last year at Advoco Connect, our annual conference for the EAM community, Chris Oakley gave the keynote address. In his presentation, Chris talked about why we are afraid of change. This fear, he says, comes from a lack of confidence in doing something we have never done before. While this is natural, because how many of us are an expert the first time we do something new, (think back to learning how to ride a bicycle) it stifles our growth.

Change can knock us down, but we ultimately get better because we gain experience, and these experiences help us learn. The cycle for accepting change looks like this: we gain confidence by knowing something; we know something because we have experienced it; we gain experience from doing it; and we do something new after learning about it. We benefit from this cycle by growing new skills and gaining positive results.

When you face scary change, do not think, “This isn’t for me,” and quit. Instead think, “I am not good enough yet, I need to work at this,” and gain some experience by doing it. Be prepared to get knocked down and view that as a positive. After all, we don’t get better when things are easy.

Until next time…we are Advoco, make every minute count.

About Colin: Colin Whitney is a Solutions Architect with Advoco and looks forward to helping others achieve their EAM goals. He is a graduate of both the University of Iowa and the University of Georgia. When he is not working he enjoys getting outside and watching college football. Questions? Send Colin an email!