Why change? I'm fine that way

Many times I see managers and leaders struggling to manage change situations, critical moments in the company or in their workplace, be it a business area or division or an entire country. But I also see in many of them that the main struggle is when change knocks on their own door.

In general, people do not realize that we are constantly changing and to develop ourselves and the business we are in, we have to move continuously, because only then can we continue to create and be innovative.

Many years ago, doing training, I came across the model of the Four Rooms of Change. At the time I just cared about understanding it and trying to figure out how to apply it by being an observer of where people were during the flow of change.

What are The Four Rooms of Change?

It is a concept and theory complete with methods, analytical tools and models that can be used to support innovation and change to achieve positive results and increase development capacity.

The model was developed by Swedish psychologist Claes Janssen as part of his groundbreaking research on the dynamics of change. The four rooms, or psychological states of mind, are Satisfaction, Self-Censure (denial), Confusion-Conflict, and Inspiration-Renewal.

1. Contentment room: it is about the positive dimension and you must take care of it, from not wanting to change. Where I feel good with myself and my environment, where I like my work, I feel comfortable and satisfied.

2. Denial room: The changes are already happening but I consider that I'm fine and that I don't need to change, that this is not for me and I don't think I need it.

3. Confusion room: I want to but I still don't know how to do differently. When we stop doing what we know, we enter a moment in which we need to clear our minds and for this we need to pause and reconnect.

4. Renewal room:, a positive place where I want to change. It's time to risk, to try, a place where I'm good, but I need more. I feel comfortable in my job, but I need to go a step further and progress.

An example of this is when I became the leader of the current organization where I work. At the beginning, I heard many leaders, managers and workers express that they were doing certain processes in the same way X years ago and everything was fine. This, for me, was the best opportunity I had in front of me to innovate something that, although it was working well up to now, could surely be enhanced.

This is how sooner or later we will find ourselves with the need to change, to find the desired professional project, to experiment, to innovate and to connect with ourselves. But it is true that any process of change requires an exercise in self-reflection, self-knowledge and adaptation. As we saw last week, Pranayama (breathing techniques) is an excellent complementary tool that can help us to better understand the process of change but also to navigate within ourselves more easily at a time when many emotions are involved.

For this I will recommend you apply the Ujjayi breath which has numerous benefits: calms the nervous system, calms the mind and increases psychic sensitivity. Relieves insomnia, slows heart rate, and lowers blood pressure. It is a calming pranayama, but it also has a warming effect by stimulating the oxidation process. Ujjayi breathing helps stimulate the vagus nerve to relax our body.

How to do it?

According to the National Library of Medicine, for Ujjayi breathing, both inhalation and exhalation are performed through the nose while keeping the mouth closed. Constrict your throat to the point where your breath makes a rapid noise almost like a snore.

Try this technique for about 5-10 minutes a day. You can do it anywhere and at any time but if you have never practiced this technique it is best to start in your room or in a quiet place/moment. Then when you have enough practice I assure you that you can do it anywhere and at any time.

By practicing Ujjayi breathing, your stay in the satisfaction room will be more pleasant and it will also help you move to the next room more smoothly, being open and receptive to the changes to come.

I hope you enjoyed this post and remember that we all live and move through the 4 rooms, depending on where we are in our life, although our personality will determine the time we spend in each one and the agility with which we transit.