Change is a guaranteed part of life! You might think it’s a BOLD statement, but it’s so true. Why? Let’s take a trip down memory lane… You were conceived because your mom and dad loved each other so much and then you were a fetus and then the change cycle begins. 9 months later, you were born, more change! Another 9 months and you were, crawling, then walking, then talking, and on and on and on. Literally, we are in a state of change since the day we were born! When we were kids, the change was more subtle, but as we get older, the change becomes more drastic and more stressful. However, there is no need to freak out because if we actually make peace with change, then it becomes part of our life-journey. My goal for today’s article is to help you make peace with change and to welcome it with an open arm while staying centered, collected and gracious. Are you ready? Let’s go! Below I have for you 5 strategies that will help you during periods of change. 1. Manage Your Mind During periods of change or as I like to call them “transitions times,” our minds are working on overdrive. Our mind has one goal in mind “no pun intended”, our minds want us to feel safe. So when we are going through a period of change, our mind is panicking on our behalf because it wants to take us back to safety. If you learn this trick and start to work with your mind by training it to expect and accept change, then you can go through change with less stress and more control. Here are a few ways to retrain your mind about change – Tell your mind these things when its panicking: 1. Change is temporary; it’s not permanent! Keep that thought in mind. 2. Change can be exciting if we focus on the right thing. 3. Thank your mind for the help and tell it that you got this, you are well prepared for change, and you’re READY! Simply just work with your mind instead of letting run wild on your behalf.   2. Keep Your Eyes On The Prize One of the best ways to handle change with grace is to keep your eyes on the big picture. During periods of change, things get crazy, wild and sometimes way out of hand but remember you got this! Stay collected and centered by focusing on the silver lining, the happy ending of that changing period, and the new chapter that comes after the change. As long as you stay optimistic, and keep a positive attitude, then you will be going through change times like a champion instead of a victim. I found this to be extremely helpful! Thoughts?   3. Reflect, Reflect, Reflect When you’re going through a change period, its highly important to reflect on the change. Ask yourself these questions to help you with this process: 1. Why am I going through this change period and why now? 2. What lesson or lessons am I supposed to learn? 3. Am I afraid of something so much that I manifested this new change? 4. Is my belief system in congruency with what I want out of life? 5. Is this change period unique or does it feel like a Deja Vu of a different event in life? 6. What outcome do you want from this change period “More on that on Point # 5 – keep reading…”   4. Learn To Manage Your Emotions Change brings with it a myriad of emotions; stress, fear, panic, excitement, and anticipation are just to name a few. So what to do with all these emotions? Process them! Yes, work through the feeling and don’t stifle it or disregard it. So, If you’re feeling stressed, process the feeling, don’t ignore or and bottle it up. Talk to a friend about what’s stressing you, join a support group, journal, just do something so the emotion is not bottled up in your system. What if you were feeling a mixed feeling of fear and excitement? You’re not alone! I just moved 2000 miles from the East Coast all the way to the West Coast so trust me when I tell you I was excited for the new beginning on the West Coast, but man was I scared! I had to drive a huge 26 feet U-Haul for 2000 miles with a little puppy, and my car towed behind the truck, talk about scary! How did I handle the mixed emotions? I visualized! Yup, I used visualization to help me manifest the perfect trip, a trip with no issues and a trip that went as I planned, a trip where I, my puppy and all my belongings made it safe and sound! I totally worked, 3 days ago, I made it to the West Coast in one piece and with all my stuff intact – pretty good, don’t you think?   5. Visualize The Perfect Outcome During and After The Change Period I hinted in point # 3 on the topic and in point # 4 I told you about how I used visualization, and now I am going to cover it in more details. Visualization is a very powerful tool. World presidents, athletes, students, and people from all walks of live use it to manifest the most incredible outcomes in their lives! This tool is fantastic to keep your mind calm during change periods. When you envision a prefect and smooth transition, you send the feel good chemicals to your body which makes you feel more calm and collected. And staying calm is KEY to go through the transition period while staying centered and focused. Also, the simple practice of visualization is an excellent way to activate the law of attraction so instead of panicking while going through change, visualize the perfect transition and the perfect ending. Use visualization to get what you want from the change you’re going through. It’s effective, and simply works!   Here you have it my friends, 5 simple yet effective strategies to help you go through change while staying centered. So stay calm and put any of these 5 tools to good use and come out on the other side, stronger, happier and centered! To a centered and collected you! Zane Ps. please share this article with your circle of family and friends – we all go through change and you never know who you’re helping by just simply hitting the share buttonJ P.P.S. which one of the 5 strategies above you feel more connected to, please share in the comment section below.   Zane Baker is a Transformational Coach & Inspirational Speaker. He’s also the Co-Founder of The Valhalla Mind Institute & The My Daily Zen Transformational Programs. Zane serves over 150 thousand subscribers & followers with his free newsletter & personal growth advice on his Facebook page. His top rated meditation track is available here “The Vision Quest”. You can follow more of his work at www.ValhallaMind.com.