Corban, 3 years old:  Morning-caught dumping his brand new bubbles in the back yard after playing with them for two minutes. Noon-decided that throwing rocks at his favorite Grammy, me, was great sport!  Afternoon- Corban started pushing his little one year old brother down for no apparent reason.

The change–new little brother to share mom and dad with, share toys, and share food.  Not happy, no choices, going to rebel.

Joe Corporate, 40 years old: Morning- caught dumping an important document in the trash to slow down his departmental change.  Noon-decided to throw the stapler across the room when he received the news that the organization will be changing to a new software.  Afternoon-Joe started pushing down his subordinates with harsh degrading comments because he is not happy with the changes his boss has passed down.

The change–new boss, new polices.  Not happy, no choices, going to rebel!

Looks the same?  Hmmmmmm.

Sometimes we handle change just like we did when we were 3!  Wrong?  Right?  It just is.  But..as adults, who by the way, are lucky to have jobs in this economy, we need to find other alternatives besides dumping, throwing and pushing.  Here are a few pointers for next time:

1. Know when your emotions are climbing and take a break, breath and ask why do I feel like this.  Note: sometimes when you drill down and ask “why” 5 times you will get to the real answer.
2. Take another breath and quickly write down your frustrations.  P.S. that breathing thing works…I taught it to the 3 year old:) “Breath in and blow it out hard!”
3. Quit dwelling on the organizational change and shift your thinking to “What are the possibilites or positives to this change?” Some easy examples to this question:    

• I still have a job.
• I will learn how to do something new. 
• I’m learning to control my emotions during change. 
• Oh yeah!  I still have a job!

Stress buster question:  What do you do to de-stress in times of emotional distress or change?