OH! Magazine - Australian Version October 2016 | Page 26

(Performance Coaching)

ACCEPT IT, CHANGE IT
OR LEAVE IT AS IS!
Greg Sellar explores the three choices we face with every situation.
oseph Goldstein once said, 'You
can’t stop the waves, but you can
learn to surf' and he was right.

J

We are all faced with challenges and
situations in life, which require us to
make decisions. The first option is to
battle your reality; fight against it –
sometimes in a sea of negativity or
criticism. The second option is to accept
what’s going on and make a change,
moving forward in the knowledge you
have power over your own circumstances.
The final choice is to accept that you
can’t control much outside of your own
self and your own actions, and just leave
things as they are.
Life provides indicators that lets you
know where you are on your selfprescribed success scale. Now this 'scale'
is different for everyone, but you know
the type of signs I'm talking about –
someone earns more money than you, so
you compare. Others are having amazing
success and you’re not, so you question
why it isn’t you. That milestone birthday
arrives, prompting some self-reflection
about not quite being ‘there’ yet.

26

OH! MAGAZINE (OCTOBER 2016)

These potential life blows bring with
them choices; and each choice comes
with its own set of outcomes that will
potentially move you further away from,
or towards your desired goals.
CHOICE 1 – FIGHT IT
I'm not talking about fighting things in a
positive way (e.g., to overcome them),
but moreso fighting things to place
blame, deflect or disassociate – and
obviously, this option is the least desirable
one to take. Any time you take an active
role
in
denying
your
current
circumstances, you’re denying yourself
the chance for things to improve.
Fighting is exhausting – both physically
and mentally and in some instances this
behaviour can develop into serious
mental health issues. This is so common
in Australia that one in five have been
found to experience mental illness within
a 12-month period. And almost half (45
per cent) of Australians aged 16 to 85
years are expected to experience mental
illness at some stage in their lives, with
the primary symptoms being anxiety,
stress and in severe cases, depression.

To spend your whole life fighting who you
are, what you're doing and how you've
arrived at this point, is a waste of your
life. Hoping for something to change
without commitment, commotion and
consistency is futile because sadly,
nothing ever happens magically, so stop
fighting it and invest your energy instead,
into getting things moving.
CHOICE 2 – ACCEPT IT & CHANGE IT
Acceptance is often the first step towards
action. It's important to realise that
acceptance doesn't necessarily mean
'giving in'; instead, acceptance is about
letting go of the negative emotions that
surround your circumstances and taking
immediate action in a positive manner.
Where you are right now is your
responsibility and the direct result of
everything you've either done or not done
in the past. You need to own the fact that
each decision you've made has brought
you to this very point in time, and if
you're not where you really want to be in
life, then the key to getting where you
want to be, is to first accept it then
change it.