“The Curious Paradox is that when I accept myself just as I am, then I can Change” – Carl Rogers in the book ‘On Becoming a Person‘. Carl Rogers is a famous psychologist that is one of the founders of the coaching approach to change. His book is highly recommended if you are interested in personal change and growth.
This is a very deep statement. Because of often we think that we should force ourselves to change, with the result that we create resistance and frustration… with poor results.
Carl Rogers’s opinion, forged after decades of giving therapy and counselling, is that deep-seated change is actually possible only when one accepts himself fully, including his emotions and feelings that often tend to be repressed. This deep preparatory work might take months and years before we might be ready for change.
It is interesting that in some respect the same might hold for change in organizations: self-awareness is a necessary pre-requisite.
It might be a good idea to focus first on a deep acceptance of yourself, of your feelings and other psychological and physiological reactions, before venturing down the path of change. A worthwhile investment indeed that will repay multiple times as after, change will become easy and self-sustaining.
