How To Cope With Growth And Change

It has been said that change is the only constant in life.
Change is taking place everywhere around us, all the time.
As we navigate the winds of change, we all need support:
whether going through a divorce, recovering from an
illness, embarking on a spiritual awakening or starting
over in a new community.

All forms of change require us to learn new ways of being
and functioning. One of the most valuable gifts you can
give yourself during times of change is to find appropriate
support.  A basic understanding of the learning process
that moves us through change will boost your ability to
find meaningful support for every stage of your journey.

Humans move through three core stages in every area of
change and growth – whether you are trying out a new sport
or adjusting to life after losing a loved one. You may find
yourself at a beginning stage in one area or your life and
an advanced stage in other areas of your life.  Success
lies in being able to determine how your personal learning
needs to be support with appropriate feedback, support or
adjustment.  When we get stuck in any one stage, growth
stagnates.

Beginning Stage – Knowledge

The beginning stage of learning or change is the thinking
or cognitive stage. This is the stage where you may decide
to learn more about something - perhaps you choose to
explore spiritual realities and delve into many traditions,
teachings and materials.  During this stage, you spend a
lot of time acquiring information, processing new concepts
mentally, and figuring out how everything fits together.

During the beginning phase, personal growth tends to be
sporadic, uncoordinated and often somewhat lopsided – not
unlike watching a toddler taking their first solo steps.
Mistakes are common and it is often difficult to filter out
irrelevant information, since discernment is a skill that
gets refined with time and practice.  You may get
overwhelmed easily when there are too many things happening
in your life at one time or if you put pressure on yourself.

One of the most valuable forms of support during this phase
is to ask for constructive feedback and encouragement from
others.  You can also support your own progress by giving
yourself room and grace to fail, and making a commitment to
keep going after each setback.  Repeated effort provides
the practice needed to become more familiar with the new
skill or learning.

Intermediate Stage - Application

In the intermediate stage, you start applying what you have
learned so far to implement meaningful change into your
life.  You now move beyond simply knowing about things into
practical application of your knowledge; you experiment
with new and different ways of being in order to live it.
During this phase, you start connecting the dots in your
learning.  With the experience gained from practical
application, you start shifting your perspective to embrace
new attitudes. On the spiritual journey, this stage finds
you moving out of the intellect and into the heart, from
where you start clearing away everything that is illumined
by your emerging Higher Awareness as no longer useful.

During the application stage, you may try many different
approaches to your goal before experiencing a sense of
accomplishment.  Clients looking for tools of
self-transformation often experiment with different
meditation techniques or forms of exercise during this
stage.  Since practical application brings about real-world
outcomes, you may also become acutely aware of the external
environment in which you operate.  This heightened
sensitivity can bring with it a strong need for external
encouragement on your progress to build confidence and
assurance. If not balanced with your personal convictions,
this need for external affirmation can evolve into
expectations of external validation that may erode your
personal power.

On the journey of personal growth, you will spend most of
your time in this stage, continuously challenging and
clearing outdated beliefs to facilitate continued growth.
Constructive feedback becomes vitally important and you may
rely on a few trusted sources for feedback.  There is also
a need to balance input from others with increasing
responsibility for your own growth.  You take on more
responsibility by actively maintaining balance, clearing
out dissonant beliefs, aligning to your core truths and
reconciling your inner life with outer differences.

Advanced Stage - Integration

In advanced states of learning, you take full
responsibility for your actions and your behavior becomes
self-regulating. You have moved from the stage of knowing
about things, to doing it, and now you are becoming it. 
You no longer look outside yourself for affirmation,
guidance and support, but find it through your ever-present
connection to Source.  Listening and dialoging with the
Divine Presence within, becomes an automatic, on-going
process that facilitates personal diagnosis and adjustment
in areas of imbalance whenever needed.

Functioning at this level brings about a keen awareness of
your interconnectedness to all forms of life.  This
emerging awareness makes you highly effective at being a
positive influence for change, shifting the level of
consciousness around you simply through the sum total of
what you have become. At this level, growth or development
may be incremental and may appear smaller, because the
individual deals with fine-tuning and deep inner work that
may not be visible to others.

The next time you feel a little lost on your path, take a
look at which stage of learning you are at in the area
where you feel wobbly.  Then, find support that will offer
you appropriate correction and feedback for that stage of
your process.  You’ll be amazed at the difference this
awareness brings!

About the Author:

Ada Porat facilitates personal development through the
integration of body, mind and spirit. She enjoys
international recognition as an inspirational speaker,
teacher, author and practitioner at the leading edge of
personal growth and well-being. To sign up for Ada’s
inspirational monthly newsletter, visit
http://www.AdaPorat.com

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Ray Burton is a personal training business owner, online writer and growing net entrepreneur. He is also the author of the controversial workout e-book, The Fat 2 Fit Program which is also part of his passive income sources along with the membership site FitterFast.com.

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