The 4 Reasons For Exercising Your Right To Change Your Mind
How Changing Your Mind Is Your Right and the Right Thing To Do
‘Reconsider a commitment. You have the right to change your mind.’ Cheryl Richardson
I recently had to make a hard decision to change something in my life. I had committed myself to an organization, and yet for the past twelve months have battled with whether or not I could continue to commit myself to them because so many things had changed since making that initial commitment.
Not being one to make commitments lightly nor to break with those commitments, I battled with this decision for over a year.
However, when I finally made the decision to reconsider my commitment and change, I suddenly came across this quote by Cheryl Richardson which confirmed everything that I was sensing at the time.
Ralph Waldo Emerson put it this way -‘A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.’ Emerson meant that only small-minded people would be so foolish as to refuse to change a customary practice, or way of looking at things, simply because ‘We have always done it this way!’ even if a change might be beneficial – perhaps cheaper, fairer, more effective, or more in keeping with objective evidence.
To have ‘the right to change your mind’ is such a liberating statement, and here are four reasons why you can reconsider certain commitments in your life.
- You have changed
Life never stands still. There is a constant state of change that is occurring in our lives on a daily basis. In my marriage for example, my wife and I have made a commitment to continue to flow with each other as we change. So just because we have changed we don’t drop our marriage commitment, but rather choose to adjust to allow for the growth of each of us. There is a changing of our minds as to how we will let each other blossom, and to become all that we were created to become as a couple and as individuals.
- Those around you have changed
I have recently had to assist my two eldest children to leave the ‘business nest’ as it were. Both have been closely involved in my business for the past 7 years. But now that I have sold that part of my business they are now free spirits equipped with 7 years of training ready, though at times they may not feel it, to pursue their own ventures. So I have actually taken it upon myself to be the eagle, making the nest more and more uncomfortable for them. Why? So that they can soar. Is this easy? No. Is it necessary? Yes. For them to grow and become their own person in business they must leave the nest and learn to fly on their own, because we have all changed. Some parents want to hold on to their children tight. My philosophy differs in that I believe that as a parent I need to prepare my children for flight.
- Circumstances have changed
Circumstances are fluid and change constantly. The way we addressed things yesterday may not necessarily work today. It requires fresh strategy. It requires fresh eyes. The old rules may not necessarily work in the new world. So courageously we must step forward to this uncharted place and begin to adjust our travel in accordance to our inward compass. Circumstances change because of the decisions others make, the changing values of others, the changing economic climate, and for many reasons – some of which are beyond our total control. And with those changes you and I have the right to change our mind.
- The world has changed
This is very much tied up with circumstances. But I wanted to highlight this because when I started a web design business 7 years ago there was no Facebook, no Twitter, no YouTube, no iPhones, no iPads, Google was not well known and that’s just dealing with the changes in technology that have happened in such a short space of time. Our world is changing so fast, and it is for that reason that we have the right to change our mind and reconsider our commitments.
A final note and clarification of the word commitment…
But let me clarify this a little further.
The commitment that will never change is a commitment to excellence, a commitment to love, a commitment to forgiveness, a commitment to reaching our goals, a commitment to family and close friends, and a commitment to be the best possible.
But at the same time, do not feel hemmed in by the commitment you have made to individuals or organizations who may have strayed from their original path, for at the end of the day you must be true to yourself and true to the one who created you.
So in the year ahead, how are you going to exercise your right to change your mind?
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