Following on from my previous post on The Rock Star Story, the response prompted me to share a transformative book I read some 7 years ago. I was, at the time, still holding on to the past in the hope that somehow the loss we experienced would be reversed.

Who Moved my Cheese is an allegory which features four characters and how they deal with change. It is a light hearted and at times humorous book but the story carries a strong message. You will no doubt find yourself in each of those four characters- mice and men. I wouldn’t quite call it an instructional book, even though it is categorised as self-help. It does, however allow you to zoom away from your own life and observe how you handle the challenges that come to stay.

In my case, I refused to accept the change. I believed that even though the situation was different, somehow whatever crazy phenomenon that turned my life upside down will turn it back up again.

Here are some takeaways:

1. Don’t get too comfortable, change will happen. Expect it by looking out for the signs. Case in point: Life was going perfectly well when the recession moved in on us. I wasn’t expecting it, but the signs were there. Lower sales in the months we should have been thriving. Businesses around us closing down. but I still didn’t read into it. Expecting change does not make you a pessimist, it ,makes you prepared.
2. Have a routine and stick to it. The mice kept to their routine, even when things were going well. Implement systems and never ever deviate, even when momentum has kicked in, don’t slacken off.
3. Is your normal reaction to blame someone for the loss or change? Do you expect someone to take the fall or fix the issue that ‘they’ have caused? One of my earliest life lessons was accepting responsibility for whatever happened in my life- even when it appeared to be the other person’s fault. Blaming others gives them the power to stir your life however they choose.
4. Move quickly. Don’t spend time analysing what you can’t undo. Years ago I received notice that my office rent was going up by 300%. It was so unreasonable that along with the fellow businesses in the building, we formed a group with plans to sue the landlord- there was a lawyer amongst us. In the end the only plans that stood was the landlord’s deadline for the new rent. We had to stop whining about the unfair hike and change the only thing we had control over which was finding a new office.
5. Recognise that you will want to hold onto the past. That isn’t God telling you to hold on, that’s your reluctance to change in action. Don’t live in denial. When a crisis hits and you can’t make sense of it, it becomes easy to leave it to God to rescue you.
6. What are others doing? More experienced, simple looking people? The mice are simple creatures that respond quickly to change. Often the solution to our problem is so simple that we don’t respect it enough to go for it. Learn from experienced folks who may have traveled this road long before you did. Don’t get so cocky with your ground-breaking or trending ideas that you discard the simple, traditional ways of navigating obstacles.
7. Get moving, there is more out there. God has provided a way out of every problem. Fear will show up because you are human. Doubt and uncertainty too. Proceed, nevertheless. I have found that the longer I wait for the storm to pass, the heavier my legs feel. Fear has a paralysing effect on us, convincing the mind that the body cannot move. Overriding that fear happens when you ignore its voice and start to move
8. Mindsets & Emotions. This duo keeps popping up. The Little People (the other two characters) were different from the mice because they were complex creatures. They had emotions and beliefs which made making decisions more difficult than it should have been. Emotions are powerful but make bad leaders. Read previous posts on emotions and another on mindsets.