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7 steps to handle new change in life (Part 1) – lessons from the book “Who moved my cheese?”


I recently finished reading the book “Who moved my cheese?” by Spencer Johnson. It’s not a very big book, rather it’s on the smaller side. The hard cover version only has around 96 pages. (My eBook reader estimated it to have 79 pages.) 

Even with my "snaily" slow reading speed and an average reading time of around 15-30 minutes, that I do before I go to bed, I finished the book in around 3 days. (Well, I did read a bit more over the weekend during the day as well.) 

So, yeah, my point is that it’s quite a small book and would make a good starter book for people like me, who don’t like reading huge epics. If even that doesn’t encourage you to read it, then here is a quick summary of my take on the main theme in the book. 

The cheese in this context stands for the things in life that you long for and strive to attain in your life.

In summary, the book is about your inhibitions and resistance to change. It uses four characters in a short story format. These characters figuratively describe different types of mentalities. It’s about these miniature characters who are looking for cheese in a maze. The cheese in this context stands for the things in life that you long for and strive to attain in your life.

The four characters represent the different mindsets that we come across in our day to day life. It shows how these different mindsets face and handle the same change in their situation that each one has been forced into. 

The Conservative Mindset: It’s the mindset where you look for safety first. You are comfortable with your situation. You have adjusted to how things are. 

The Sceptically Curious Mindset: This is the type where you are sceptical, but also are curious to look for new things. You tend to lean towards the conservative mindsets though. Mostly it’s due to the lack of courage to take a leap into the unknown. But with enough motivation you prod and push to go after the new things which your heart desires.

The Sniffer Mindset: As a person of this type, you are very good at sniffing out new opportunities. You have a good imagination and can visualize new things. You are always eager to look for new things. You get bored with the status quo quite easily and need the next exciting thing to keep you going.

The Go-Getter Mindset: When you belong to this mindset, you are the do-er – a person of action. You do not waste time endlessly thinking about the consequences. You go after things and try to get things started. You do not wait for a detailed analysis.  

Now each of the above mindsets have their own advantages and disadvantages. To think of these like they exist in isolation would be an error. Most of the times, you would be able to identify with either two or more of these mindsets within you.

Change is the only constant in life.

The change management system can be broadly divided into the following 7 sections. 
1. Change Happens
2. Anticipate Change
3. Monitor Change
4. Adapting to Change Quickly
5. Changing Yourself
6. Enjoying the Change
7. Be Ready to Change Quickly and Enjoy It Again and Again

These are the processes that you can mainly categorize behaviours and actions while handling any change in your life. 

I go into more details about these individually in Part 2 of this blog. (Click here to continue reading part 2…)

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