Recently, I packed up my life in six suitcases and moved across the country to New York City. Leading up to my flight, I was resorting to some of my well-known bad habits like hyper-organizing and stressing but not actually doing any of the stuff on my to-do list. Somehow I managed to get everything packed and not leave behind a mess with 20 minutes before needing to leave for my flight. I was fully prepared for a difficult transition and move into the city since I hadn’t prepared much for it. What happened instead was that it couldn’t have gone smoother - it was a breeze. My dad and I managed to get my room functional within a few days while still exploring the city and making time for our morning runs. I realized that the hardest part was in fact the anticipation of the move rather than the move itself. Over Facetime, I shared with my Goalies how surprised I was at how much of a home this city had already begun to feel. Sarina shared how our adaptability to change was one of our strengths. I couldn’t agree more - while I’m a creature of habit, I’ve always been extremely adaptable to change.

This polarizing idea got me digging deeper into my change resilience as I couldn’t help but note some staunch instances in my life that were extremely challenging to navigate through. The anticipation aspect definitely was prevalent in my breakup when I tried to prevent it from occurring despite knowing that once my ex had checked out, it was over. As hard as it was to process, I remember there being some relief for not fighting/knowing where we stood throughout that turbulent time period. It didn’t take away from stages of grief that were experienced after the fact but that journey was different. It forced me to accept my circumstances rather than resist by trying to change them. Then, it dawned on me that it wasn’t the change from that experience that was challenging but more so the lack of control. I thought that if I could control every single thing that occurs, it will hurt me less. Despite all self-preservation attempts, this was not at all the case. The hurt still prevailed and if anything, it probably caused me to suffer so much longer when I didn’t embrace the change as it was happening. After all, how could I? I didn’t want it to happen.

My most recent project at work is a Change Experience for a Government and Public Sector client. Throughout the past few months, change has been at the forefront of my mind as my team has worked to help this client navigate through the change they are experiencing. It has taught me how universal the notion of change is. As hard as it is for humans to navigate through circumstances where they are forced to embrace radical change, it makes it tenfold harder for organizations. While organizations are comprised of humans, they must navigate change to the best of their ability as a unit. Talk about wanting control. Organizations go through such lengths to prepare themselves for scenarios that will prevent them from needing to change.

So it’s universal, what’s the point?

Similar to fear, I believe that what comes on the other end of change can be some of the most transformative moments in life. Often, experiencing adversity results in the most growth. The Olympics were such a testament to that. This year, the focus on mental health from Simon Biles's courageous act really sparked conversations that re-centered the notion of athletes as humans first. They all [the athletes] shared stories about the journies that led them to the moments we all witnessed on screen. Some of the most inspiring stories were how they experienced a personal struggle and rose to the occasion as they continued working hard and training for this goal. If Simone would have just pushed through her routine despite experiencing the “twisties,” there’s no knowing what would have happened. But the one thing that’s for sure is that it wouldn’t have led to this conversation that has been placed at the forefront of everyone’s mines - the return of humanity to athletics.

In David Eaglemen’s episode of Unlocking Us, he shared one of the ways to increase the neuroplasticity of the brain was to try new things as you get better at something. He instructed the listeners to stop it and start something new. This notion is extremely difficult for me; I love trying new things but my passionate personality really wants to take it one step further. My personal goal for the next year is to take some recent advice from my Manager and zoom out on the things I do to think about ‘What did I learn? How can I improve? If I were to do it again, could I do it faster/better?’

When applied to fitness, I really do believe that a diverse holistic routine is a way to see the most results in conjunction with nutrition. There’s no better time than this change for me to really analyze my routines, behaviors, and goals to determine if they are still the best course for me. It’s no longer serving anyone to accomplish a goal just because I committed to it earlier this year. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t plan on abandoning goals and the monthly goal-setting is definitely here to stay. This just gives me the opportunity to reset some expectations for myself before I begin grad school so that I can prevent what happened in Undergrad (wanting to do it all and having it all suffer) from repeating.