The Importance of Change for Success of an Individual and Society

Life. A truly baron thing on the road to success. It is something I have primarily took time in understanding as a human being. “What is change?” I question myself, “Who am I?” I reconcile trying to find my destined purpose in life. Sometimes I wonder how we are all different. How even though we inhibit the indistinguishable attributes of a Homo Sapiens, but somehow are still blinded by the vile and malevolent analytic of human nature. Over time we learn to cling on to some values that we feel are necessary for us to not only survive, but also live in this depraved society that we live in today. That’s when we ineptly introduce the notion of understanding whether or not we are infinite or limited up to where our thought process seems to proceed.

Much of that understanding stems from the work of Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck, as she synthesizes her remarkably insightful Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, an inquiry into the power of our beliefs, both conscious and unconscious, and how changing even the simplest of them can have a profound impact on nearly every aspect of our lives. Dweck is shown to introduce how human nature is so susceptible, portraying how she would classify us mortals with two distinct mindsets, fixed and growth. At the heart of what makes the “growth mindset” so winsome, Dweck found, is that it creates a passion for learning rather than a hunger for approval. Its hallmark is the conviction that human qualities like intelligence and creativity, and even relational capacities like love and friendship, can be cultivated through effort and deliberate practice. Not only are people with this mindset not discouraged by failure, but they don’t actually see themselves as failing in those situations — they see themselves as learning. On the other hand, in a fixed mindset, “your qualities are carved in stone.” Whatever skills, talents, and capabilities you have are predetermined and finite. Whatever you lack, you will continue to lack. This institutes qualities of fixed traits that they believe cannot change. However, throughout my lifetime or of course from the years that have passed by, I have developed and honed a different thought. I don’t know if I was meant to develop differently or specific circumstances that went on to enter my life allowed it.

The Greek philosopher Heraclitus once said, ‘Change is the only constant in life’. He believed that permanence is an illusion and that everything lives in a process of constant change. Which is why no matter who you are, no matter who you were born to be, change is inevitable.

Think about it – change is seen in the natural world’s transformations as well as its transition from season to season; change occurs among people who transform – both physically, mentally, socially, emotionally and even spiritually – every single day of their lives; and change is seen in civilization, politics, thought, art, geography and economy, etc in just about every aspect of the modern world. The word “Change” refers to an act or instance of making or becoming different – such as history’s change, or transition, from a nomadic to an agricultural society.

If this notion is valid, then why does it seem that so many people are resistant to change? It’s a tough question to answer. But it warrants an attempt.

Consider all the changes in a person’s life: a person is born a small baby, they live and grow, then one day become old and decrepit, and they ultimately die. It is the natural order of things, but no one wants to get old, suffer and die. So naturally, people do things to resist this big change, only to finally come to terms that they – like all living things – must wither away into a state of nothingness.

But avoiding the natural changes of life only adds more suffering, creating a deep feeling that one is not being true to themselves and not living according to the natural order of the world. This, in turn, creates inner turmoil, as their resistance to change does more harm than good.

Nonetheless, people are against this – as Humanity as a whole is once again resistant to change. Had he been wiser, Heraclitus would have said, “the resistance to change is the only constant in life.” But there was no way he could have anticipated the complex world in which we live today, with its never-ending influx of new technologies that change the way we all live, think, work and relate to people.

Perhaps people are afraid of change and its implications for good reasons. People work hard in their lives, both professional and personal, to get the hang of it – to figure it out. Then comes along a big change, a departure from what was previously seen and understood as normal, and it’s hard to accept. Change makes for new challenges, for different ways of doing things, and it creates a disruption of the normal way of living for most people. To conclude, it seems logical that a person can avoid much suffering in life if they take on a perspective that includes accepting change – and just going with the flow of life. It’s better that way. It has to be. Change is the only constant in life. So instead of trying to understand how we can be limited and isolated in a series of repetitive events that we can’t escape, let's try to think outside of the box. Let’s try to achieve greatness and growth. Let’s try to change and amend as the human beings we are.