A coaching insights blog from Sandra Colhando’s ‘Redesign Yourself’
In a world that changes daily, where shifts are inevitable and part of life’s seasons, adapting can be a hard pill to swallow. However, when sudden changes hit hard, they can also bring an unexpected gift of grace. This is part of the process of redesigning yourself, where a part of you remains constant, and a new version of you emerges.
“I was at a place where I didn’t have to get feedback from anyone; I just had people working with me. It was a sudden shift in Australia. When you are nobody and you have to start all over again in your middle age.”
Indeed, people are like bottomless vessels of traits, continually filled by the environments they inhabit. They are boundless vessels of versions, perpetually shaped by past and present experiences. Each person is an endless reservoir of characteristics, unconsciously developed through interactions with others.
“And then you need to question yourself, and I want to make a point here: it is not about reengineering yourself because some part of you will always remain you.”
Growth and personal development are often seen as processes of transformation, where individuals strive to improve themselves and achieve their goals. However, an equally important aspect of this journey is maintaining parts of yourself that remain constant. These core elements of your identity provide a foundation that supports and sustains your growth.
“I am not asking you to remove that aspect but definitely redesign yourself. After coming here, I had to go out and ask people for feedback. I had to step into the uncomfortable zone where people were giving me feedback as if I had zero experience, and I had to receive it with grace.”
The uncomfortable zone, though often unsettling, brings true comfort in the long run. That is the irony of life. In this chapter of Sandra’s journey, the uncomfortable zone meant appearing as a beginner in a field where she had already flourished, a field she had already mastered. It takes humility and openness to be nourished by something you have tasted many times before. These two virtues—humility and openness—though often seen as lowly, are in fact the pinnacle of life’s greatest growth.
“If you don’t have that open mindset to adapt and change, it gets very difficult to find those mentors. Nobody’s gonna come to you. You have to go and seek support.”
Life is a game of adapting, as the world revolves, so does life. To thrive and survive is to adapt and change for the better. Reaching out for support can be a prideful pain for us humans, as it is often in our nature. Yet, it is in seeking that we find; it is in searching that we discover.
“And very often people will say yes.”
In many organisations, employees have sometimes been neglected when it comes to the support they need. Moreover, there is often a fear or reluctance among employees to reach out for support in the first place, which can hinder the full adaptive benefits within workplaces. This lack of support not only affects individual growth but also impacts the overall productivity and success of the organisation.
Embrace the change with a leadership development program that supports you through the uncomfortable zone. At TransforMe, our corporate training programs, including breakthrough leadership training and executive development programs, are designed to guide you through these transitions.
Don’t say no to your employees. And if you encounter a ‘no,’ let TransforMe say yes to your growth.
