“You’re always one decision away from a totally different life.” — Mark Batterson

Imagine the possibilities if you said “yes” to life, instead of hesitating, finding excuses or thinking, “I’ll wait for tomorrow.”

Wouldn’t it be nice to approach life, business, and relationships with a flexible mindset?

As humans, we’re sadly hardwired to avoid and resist change. But in reality, the more you resist anything in life, the more you actually bring it to you.

Carl Jung summed this up: “whatever you resist persists.”

This is easier said than done! And it doesn’t matter how much yoga or meditation you do; the world is fast-paced and noisy, and things are constantly changing at a velocity beyond our comprehension (with or without our blessing).

Shoot! Even Zuckerberg has lost control of the algorithms behind his online empire (as the platform grew too quickly and it has become smarter than those who programmed it).

But, there’s still hope for us humans.

We can become slaves to change and progress (by finding ourselves burned out, stressed out or washed out) or learn to CATCH the WAVE of change and have some fun at the same time.

You could try Laughter Yoga or dancing, which is guaranteed to make you more spontaneous and playful. Alternatively, you could just turn to drink or science. 😉

Studies have shown that individuals follow a predictable pattern of reactions when faced with the prospect of change.

This pattern is often known as the Human Change Curve.

When you look at the Kubler-Ross Human Change Curve, the first four stages follow the pattern associated with grief: shock, denial, anger, depression.

However, Olympians, professional athletes and other high-performers often use a simplified version of the Change Curve (as they are focused and disciplined enough to bypass the initial phases).

High performers jump straight to the exploration phase. As they know that constantly improving their technique, leads to better performance. They are highly driven individuals. Born or conditioned (from years of hard work and determination no less) with the desire to win. So they are more resilient, open to feedback, and constructive criticism.

Total commitment—most athletes and high performers train for hours, months and even years when the media’s not watching.

They are focused on making incremental improvements each time they train. And that’s why they can show up for a home run or a slam dunk—because they are 101% committed.

Long story short: they are open to change, take full accountability for their performance, and keep taking uncomfortable action to achieve maximum results.

Tony Robbins has coached many high performers and he says “perfection is the lowest standard—commit to making incremental improvements.” And this is the very core of the athletes mindset.

You can do this too (without spending a penny on coaching). You just have to…

• Keep showing up.
• Audit and reflect on your progress and technique.
• Make incremental changes to improve your game/performance (no matter what). 

We ALL have the power to keep moving forward (we just gotta dig deep from time to time).

I know it’s hard. And there will be days when you want to watch Netflix and give up (I’ve been there), but keep showing up to life and keep moving forward to make small improvements (instead of obsessing about perfection—done is better than perfect 😉).

In summary: try and skip the denial and resistance stage when life takes you by surprise. It will help you feel lighter, more playful, and you will start to cultivate a mindset that allows you to handle situations out of your control.