The beginning of the year often evokes a desire for everything to be new and shiny. In a way, this desire, sometimes unconscious, is to change everything.

You might have seen it with colleagues or friends who detect a problem, immediately come up with a solution, and explain how that problem needs to disappear. Suddenly, it is as if everything that has been done until now is non-existent or should be replaced.  It isn’t good enough. The description of how things should be appears as the only valid state.

Moving forward, as is then suggested, can only happen by rethinking things fundamentally.

As much as this may be true, it’s rarely how it happens and succeeds.

A vision or an objective enabling one to imagine how the situation should be is helpful. However, and this is especially true for any “this is how it should be” idea, the idea is much less relevant than the ability to sense how to get there. Paradoxically, this asks us to accept the situation as it is and as a relevant part of one’s history. It’s only then that the clarity developed based on the current situation allows us to determine the way forward.

As long as the situation as it is cannot be acknowledged, there will be too much worry about it and not enough space to engage in sustainable change.