"The range of what we think and do is limited by what we fail to notice. And because we fail to notice that we fail to notice there is little we can do to change until we notice how failing to notice shapes our thoughts and deeds." R. D. Laing

"When two people in business always agree, one of them is unnecessary." William Wrigley, Jr.

Change...................how do you react when you hear that word? Personally, I tend to have a bimodal response of excitement and apprehension. While there is a wide range of how people entertain and respond to change - from little appetite for it with very long change cycles to a significant need for change every few years - I think it's safe to say that we all prefer to be initiator of change rather than having change thrust upon us.

That's why it's so important to look at one's own willingness to be a change catalyst. I find it fascinating that word "change" comes from old English "cambium" which means "becoming." For there is no life without growth or "becoming" - thus, like it or not, we must embrace and accept change unless, we want to live life in a numbed or deadened state. Discovering ways to anticipate and embrace change is a key competency of emotional intelligence. After all, whenever we don't get what we want we have to change course. The process of "becoming" is enlivening and indeed critical for life. To be human is, by definition, to continually integrate to higher levels of complexity, an ability conferred by incredible nervous system humans have evolved, with its' multiple iterations of intelligence: from residual reptilian brain (instincts) to limbic (emotional) brain to cerebral neo-cortex. If we're alive, our nervous systems are continuously driving us to higher levels of integration. If we embrace that drive, we will become a more whole person. If not, we become unhealthy (on some level) and eventually die. Harsh as that may sound, it's just a law of nature. Ask yourself: "How alive do I feel?" "Am I present to possibilities of moment or am I dwelling on what isn't happening or what I wish would happen?"

Change catalysts generate movement. Movement is life, even if it's not always in right direction. Movement is better than stuck-ness.

"Becoming" and change produce movement that is guided by purpose, moment that is on purpose, movement that is driven by intention. Movement without purpose is only activity while movement with purpose is change.

Here are some ways to know if you're a change catalyst: